Last Dawn
by sShadow
Summary: After two years in the industry, already a well known actress, she strives to become number one, but a sudden phone call persuaded her to leave her job and country immediately! After nearly a year has past, Ren becomes desperate by his own selfish needs, just then, Takarada finally contacts him about Kyoko, except that she's now... dead and left a child? No way!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

How deep is it really, the ocean? How high, the sky? Can it compare with the depth of her heart? For someone who had lost everything, and gained everything back, separation is nothing and love can be forgotten as quickly as it was gained. It does not matter anymore, all that is important is that the sky is clear and the ocean is full of life. Hearts can never be broken, nor can they be reborn, they simply unlocked another section whenever life needed it.

That's love, a useless thing that makes reproduction easier.

That's happiness, a mere illusion that will eventually fade.

That's humans, forever believing, and searching for things that never had any proof of existence.

Chapter 1

_Eleven months now, right? _Tsuruga stared off into the clear summer sky, the weather is still as warm as ever, but something's been off, in this comfortable day, where everyone else is smiling and laughing with their loved ones, he felt as cold as ice.

Since when has she been such a big part of him?

He doesn't even remember

"_Tsuruga-san! See you soon!"_ Her bright amber eyes and heart-warming smile still remained as clear as diamonds in his mind, it pained him to think of her, but compared to the empty feeling without her, he would rather endure the pain.

_What is your 'soon', Mogami-san? _He asked the retreating figure in his head.

Not even a phone call in these eleven months, and Takarada refused to tell him anything, even though he had been so close to beat the hell out of him to know.

The familiar sound of his cell phone saved him from his frustration.

Swiftly, he picked it up and responded with his usual tone, letting no one know his true jumbled feelings.

After a few minutes of silence, his body went stiff, slowly, he pulled the phone away from his ear, his eyes revealed panic, disbelief, and he was off. Running at full speed, his sleek sports car forgotten. His throat ached from lack of water and he was sweaty all over. He pushed past anyone that stood in his way and literally jumped across streets.

"Hey, was that Tsuruga? Tsuruga Ren?" Excited voices muttered around him, but he heard none of them, right now, he had to get there, _fast._

"Ah, Ren-kun, come here, meet Takumi-kun!" A rather large and ugly red riding hood said to him. Today's theme seemed to be 'Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf.'

"Where is she?" He panted, a dark aura emitting from him, bathing the fairy tale woods in menace.

Takarada stopped smiling, he walked slowly to him, and put his free hand on his shoulder, leading him to a seat.

"She left this child, his name is Mogami Takumi. Ren, do you understand?" He said slowly and audibly, his hand still firmly on Tsuruga's shoulder.

_What? Understand what? What is there to understand? This is another one of his jokes, most certainly. _He thought to himself, _there's no way… no way that Mogami Kyoko's… _he shook his head desperately, useless attempt to comfort himself. _And a child? She's not even married! How can she of all people have a child? Impossible! _He thought, clinging on to that thought. But a small, sensible part of his brain piped up, _well, the child's only two months old… and Kyoko's been gone for eleven months…_ He shook his head again; the child doesn't even look like Kyoko!

He turned his gaze to the small child, he looks nothing like Kyoko indeed, this is surely just another prank…

The child seemed to sense a pair of eyes staring at it, and it turned to meet their gaze, his eyes were brown, no where near the warm amber shade of Mogami's. However, upon meeting the child's gaze, Tsuruga froze. It was the same, precisely the same amount of pressure and innocence as Mogami's! Surely, he was just imagining things now, he must be seeing her in everyone… this wasn't proof… there's just no way…

Just then, the small child reached up its fat little fist and quite literally punched Tsuruga on the cheek. The moment they made contact, Tsuruga was sure, this child, is most definitely related to Mogami!


	2. Chapter 2

**I just edited ch. 1 and 2, couldn't stand the horrible grammar...**

**Whoops, forgot the disclaimer…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really, nothing at all…**

**I wanted to save this moment for a bit later, I guess I am kind of sadistic, but never mind that. Hope my writing's not too awkward, I haven't had time to proofread it or change it or anything…**

Chapter 2

_This child's presence calms me, or at least, I can keep my mind, how weird. _Tsuruga Ren smiled weakly, eyes full of sorrow. It hurts, it hurts so _damn_ much that he could no longer feel anything, it tore him apart to pieces and threw him into a blithering dark fire. It drove holes into his shattered heart, poisoning the pieces. Yet, this child was keeping him alive, keeping him away from the darkness of Kuon. Somehow, somewhere, it seems as though Kyoko herself was reincarnated into him. The child is in a way, protecting him in a way Kyoko herself would. How could this be?

**Flashback**

"_Can I…take him?" The words left his mouth before he even realized what he said, stunned by his own words, he looked down at the small boy. How innocent, he thought, just like her._

"_Sorry Ren, but I'm technically his guardian for now." He said, "Even if Kyoko returns, I will still be the one taking care of him. As the president, I do have to look after the image of my employees, you can imagine how an unknown child could damage her career."_

_Even if the employee's dead._

_Even if Kyoko returns… how can a dead person just… return? If they could, how much easier would that make his shitty life?_

"_Of course, you can take him for the nights, that's fine with me, but I'll need him back for the day."_

**Flashback End**

_For a two months old, he's pretty quiet. _He thought, he doesn't wake up much, only once so far, perhaps the child, like Kyoko was trying to minimize the amount of times it bothers him. Even though now, he would much rather the child cry and howl and keep his mind busy.

When he was awake, when he opened his eyes, those eyes… those eyes…

_Kyoko, what happened? I want to know…_

_What happened to you this past year?_

_Just… what?_

The moonlight bathed through the large window, cloaking the small boy in silvery light. He looked just like an angel.

Tsuruga smiled bitterly, he didn't understand how he was keeping his sanity, he was sure Kuon would come back out, had braced himself for that inevitable event. Yet, now, all he felt was a dull numbness in place of his heart. He was afraid of what would happen once his feelings return. Would they cause him so much pain that he will lose himself permanently? Or would they wash over him, devouring him, so that he would disappear all together?

Neither mattered to him anymore, Kyoko, his light for three years, was gone, except this time, even Tsuruga Ren is damaged, how will he live on?

He should have told her his feelings for once, even if she were to hate him, even if he could not love her afterwards, perhaps it would even be better that way. Maybe if she hated him, it would ease this burden upon him, this is just too heavy.

Slowly, he felt his consciousness drift away to somewhere far away…

"Tsuruga-san! Wake up!" A familiar voice called, it was sweet and soft, it sounded like wind chimes to his ears. He struggled to open his eyes, but all he saw was darkness, he wanted to see the owner of that voice. _Mogami-san? Is it you? Mogami-san? _ He thought desperately, hoping he could say it out loud.

"Call me Kyoko! Ren-kun!" Tsuruga's heart skipped a beat, it was as though all his emotions that had built up just flew away, leaving him as light as a teenage boy, blinded by his first love.

"Kyoko…"

"Hey! Take care of Takumi-kun for me, won't you, Ren-kun?" As though a light switched on, Tsuruga now saw his reflection through a pond of water, except that he looked exceptionally young… in fact… he looked as though he was ten again! He looked around, this was it, the forest that he first met Kyoko! And on the rock, there she sat, dressed in a simple white dress in the forest where they first met. She aimed a dazzling smile at him, melting his heart. He felt a little embarrassed, she was all grown up and there looking like an angel, but he was reverted back to a child.

"Take care of Takumi-kun, Ren-kun." She murmured sweetly, smiling at him, she was exactly as he remembered her, medium lengthen stunning orange hair, and beautiful amber eyes. He simply stared back at her, taking in her heart warming beauty, hoping that this moment will last forever.

"You… won't?" Seeing as he hadn't responded, she started bawling like a baby, startled Tsuruga ran towards her, hoping to comfort her, but she grew dimmer and dimmer, and the crying grew louder and louder, piercing his eardrums. _Damn! Kyoko, where are you? Don't, don't cry!_

With a sudden jolt, he sat up, looking around, he was back in his room, and Takumi was crying like there's no end.

_Damn it!_ He thought as he picked up the crying baby, it was already morning.

_Ding-dong!_

_Must be Sebastian_ he thought as he hurried towards the door, clothes wrinkled and hair messy, not to mention very swollen and bloodshot eyes as well as stubbles on his chin, he looked just like Cain Heel, if not worse.

He wrenched the door open, attempting to throw his jacket on Takumi while holding him and grabbing the bag for Takumi's supplies. Flustered and confused by last night's dream, he gave little attention to his new visitor.

"Tsu…Tsuruga-san?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews; they were really encouraging. Oh, and as for making the chapters longer, this one is longer in comparison, thanks for pointing it out though; I didn't notice how short they actually were. **

**Here's the proper disclaimer if anyone's looking for one.**

**Disclaimer: Most characters are from 'Skip Beat!' by Yoshiki Nakamura. Please support the author by buying the manga. **

**But I'm poor… so I only buy some**

**This chapter is a lead-in chapter, so there's not much suspense or anything... sorry.**

**Chapter 3**

_Why is it so cold, so cold, so cold, so cold, I'm going to freeze all over._ The raven-haired female thought. She had a cool beauty to her, the untouchable kind. Her expression was calm and assertive, even with her jumbled mind; she remained completely and utterly calm on the outside.

Soon, she arrived at her destination; a sleek and shiny sports car awaited her. Tsuruga Ren's sports car to be exact.

"Sorry Yashiro-kun, I had some things to take care of." She muttered as she opened the seat to the driver's side and slid in. "Weird though, does he not need you today?" She asked him. The two had become rather close after knowing each other for three years; it was obvious to tell just by the comfortable ambiance around them.

He smiled secretively, a shine in his eyes. "Oh, he's earned a day off today, and since your manager's on vacation, so why not?" He grinned widely, or rather, wider than he normally would. After knowing him for so long, and the fact that Yashiro was extremely easy to read, Kotonami knew instantly that he was in his fan-girl mode. Shaking her head slightly, she smiled, not thinking much.

Then, she froze.

She turned her head suspiciously towards him, a dark glint in her eyes. He had not made that face for eleven months, ever since she left… so that must mean.

"Yashiro-kun," She smiled sweetly at him, Yashiro felt a shiver down his spine, not good, definitely not good. "Did the president say anything about her? That damned ungrateful little witch?" Her voice slowly turned deeper and more menacing as she spat those last few words out.

_Not even a Goddamned phone call in eleven months, no contact, completely vanished off the face of earth. _She thought darkly_, if she was back, oh Lord she's in a whole lot of trouble. _

"Well, er…" He stammered, pulling on his collar, sweat dripped off his forehead and he fanned himself slightly, _Ren, you'd better thank me for this. _"Please! Oh great and wonderful Kotonami-san! Accept this little wish from ungrateful little me and do not disturb them for today, just today!" He begged, if he could, he would kneel down, but the cramped space made him look awkward and out of place.

Kotonami eyed him menacingly, after what felt like a century, she finally sighed.

"Well, I suppose he misses her too, so I guess I could lend her out, just this once though, because I do have work." Sensing it was finally safe to do so, Yashiro sat back comfortably and sighed.

"I owe you one, Kanae-san." He murmured.

"Oh yes be sure you do, and you will be paying it back a hundred times over when it come." She said threateningly, sending down yet another shiver down his spine, and the two drove away to Kotonami's first job of the day.

"Tsu…Tsuruga-san?" The voice asked uncertainly. Unable to believe his ears, Tsuruga stopped in his tracks abruptly. Slowly, he raised his head at the familiar voice. He found his own reflection through warm golden orbs. It was as though a cherry blossom bloomed in his heart, it swelled and squeezed away all the pain of these few days and left him warm and happy.

Too bad the sensation only lasted for a few seconds.

He stumbled back against the wall and slid down, sitting with a bitter smile on his face.

_Great, now I'm seeing things. _He thought with resentment, _I'm going crazy, damn. _

The figure walked in hesitantly and slid her hand on his shoulder, eyes full of concern. He looked up to meet her gaze; it was like a dream to him.

She changed in these past few months, her hair grew out, so that it was orange on the bottom but raven black from the roots up to the middle of her now smooth long hair. The look suited her well, the orange brought out her eyes while the black accentuated her other facial features, creating a well-proportioned contrast.

Instinctively, he slid his spare hand across her cheek, caressing it. Her reaction was just as he expected, at his sudden attack, she tensed and her eyes opened wide. They stilled like that for a few moments, _she will pull away soon, _he predicted, smiling sourly. However, unlike her usual self, she smiled benignly and slid her hand over his, holding it to her cheek.

Now it was his turn to be astounded. _…What?_

"Your hair's grown…" He murmured to her, something clouded his vision so that she became blurry. His throat felt funny, it was hard for him to move his mouth and his tongue was numb.

Suddenly, she rose, unaware of his change. She eyed him with determined eyes and in an instant, knelt down.

"Tsuruga-san! I'm so sorry! I couldn't contact you and left you here without a clue! I know I'm a horrible Kouhai and what I did was unforgivable! If it would make you feel better, I will cut out my heart as compensation!" She cried quickly and dramatically in one breath. Flabbergasted, Tsuruga knelt down in front of her.

"Mogami-san?" He whispered gently.

She raised her head hesitantly, afraid to reveal her fate.

SLAP!

Surprised, she stared at him with wide eyes as he lifted his hand to slap himself once again…

"Ah! Tsuruga-san! Stop hitting yourself!"

"So, you really are alive and well." The three settled down in Tsuruga's living room, Mogami finally finished explaining the details of her lack of contact to Tsuruga, who felt both relieved, content, and extremely angry at a certain Boss.

"Yes, Tsuruga-san" She smiled, bathing him in warmth, he felt as though he was being lifted from hell to heaven by a beautiful angel. He smiled back in return, which caused her to wince slightly. Disturbed by her reaction he looked at her quizzically.

_Never mind… but thank God, I thought…life is good after all._ Instead of questioning her, he aimed another dazzling gentlemanly smile at her.

She shifted back her in her seat further.

Now that he's taken a closer look at her, he realized the slight changes about her. The clothes she was wearing were definitely top-class, not to mention completely foreign. Although he knew that she has gained quite a bit of fortune from her two years at the industry, there was still no way Kyoko would buy something so lavishing. She looked very well groomed as well with her stylish, elegant hair.

_Her fans and the media are going to like that_. He thought grimly, her return's going to add quite a bit of extra news to the recently rather lame magazines. He took a quick glance at her left hand, and sighed, relieved.

Seeing her discomfort, he could only reach to one conclusion.

"Don't worry, Mogami-san, I won't ask you about your experiences away if you do not wish to say anything yourself." He said kindly, scoring up another smile which left her completely frozen… with fear.

"Ah! It's not that! It was a 'Love Me' job actually, and not very secretive. But Tsuruga-san, you really are angry aren't you?" She lowered her head down, ashamed of herself. "I'm honestly really really – "

"Mogami-san, I'm glad to find you safe, honestly." He said with such sincerity that even she nodded. "But… you mean it was a 'Love Me' assignment, from the Boss then?" He added much more menacingly, with that fake gentlemanly smile on his face now. _I will most definitely kill him one of these days… But… even he won't give her a job that might jeopardize her career._

Grimacing, she nodded. "Yes, for my mother actually. She was on her deathbed, after giving birth to Takumi, she died. My job was to complete her last wish. The job took much longer than I had hoped. She had two last wishes though, and I decided to take both of them." She hesitated slightly, "I decided to forgive her, it doesn't matter to me what she did to me in the past anymore. I chose to let it all go and accept her as my mother one last time before she left forever." She looked at him straight in his eyes, with that determined look that he loved so much.

_So in the end, I really am just your sempai, huh?_

"I'm glad." He replied simply.

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Tsuruga let the warmth seep into his veins, his blood, his senses, allowing himself to be drenched in this pleasure. He was curious of what had happened to her in the past eleven months, but not enough to ask her at the moment, right now, he just wanted to enjoy her company.

"But, Tsuruga-san, why did you take Takumi-kun?" She asked out of the blue, at her question, he stiffened. What was he going to tell her? That he thought she was dead and wanted the child as company? How ludicrous!

"Yesterday, when I visited, I thought Takumi-kun was very cute, so I took him home." He muttered, it wasn't completely false, he did think Takumi was like Mogami, and Mogami was cute, so technically, he did think Takumi was cute.

Accepting his response, she nodded.

"Well, actually, the President gave me the day off to shop for Takumi, since it is impossible for me to take care of him all the time."

"So that's it. Shall we go then?" He rose suddenly, catching Kyoko off guard.

"Eh? Oh, oh, I- yes." She stammered, she was hoping to shop with Kotonami, but since she was working, he is technically the next best thing.

So the three set off, little did they know what fate had in store for them.


	4. Chapter 4 The Locks

**Thanks for pointing out that I wrote the last sentence wrong. Yes, they do take Takumi with them. My bad.**

**I hope I got the country name right…**

**Disclaimer: See previous**

Eleven months ago:

_Mother, have you only finally remembered me to use me before your death?_

_You're just like Shotarou._

_But why… is it that much more difficult to hate you?_

Beautiful plane, magnificent view, first-class service to an exotic country, what more could one ask for? Normal people would regard this as a vacation to work twice as hard for, if they weren't meeting their on-the-verge-of-death mother who left them twelve years ago.

It was October, in spite of that; the island where she was flying to is probably more like July. Fresh sun, clear blue sky, and world-class beaches, this small but rather well known country is called Noboru Taiyō no Tochi. Its history is no less than Japan's except that it has retained its monarchy. The ruler of this country is a queen, by the name of Mogami.

Kyoko smiled bitterly, what kind of joke was this? So now she's the unwanted child of a queen who rules the fortunes of an immensely wealthy country? Considering how she had loved princesses and yearned to be one, when she discovered she technically was one, all that she sensed was a dull ache in place of her heart, she really couldn't care less, how ironic.

Mogami was her mother, even though she cried and begged for her return, even though the mere existence of the first few years of her life was dedicated to her, even though she tried her hardest to meet all of her ridiculous expectations, she always ended with nothing but disapproval.

Yet children are so pure and trusting, their love is of immense capacities. They are descended from heaven, a gift from God. Nevertheless, that changes as the cruel acid of the world burns their wings away, and as their halos dim to match with those around them. Slowly, but surely, the become subjects to deeper, impenetrable forces.

"Kyoko-chan?" A soft voice called her back to her senses, alarmed, she turned to greet the voice.

At her new visitor, Kyoko's eyes widened.

The woman had a figure fit for a celebrity and a face to match, her lips were curved into a slight smile and her eyes showed pleasant surprise.

"Shouko-san!" She exclaimed, and immediately looked around her, all demons out and ready for search.

Shouko giggled, "He's not with me today." She said kindly, "He had a ticket to Noboru Taiyō no Tochi but was unable to go. Well, I needed a vacation to get away badly… and it worked. So here I am. What about you, Kyoko-chan?"

Shouko Aki, manager of Sho Fuwa, one of the most famous singers in Japan, who have recently become more well known all around the world for his phenomenon of covering the entire top ten list with his songs in Japan.

"Erm… I'm seeing a relative who live there." She returned her smile a little awkwardly.

"Is that so? I was quite sure that you were attending the ball, being such a celebrity yourself." She shot her an incredulous look. "But forget that, it's no good zoning off like that Kyoko-chan." She lowered her voice to a bare whisper, if Kyoko had not good ears, she would not have heard her. "Take a look around you, reporters, media, celebrities, politicians… This island is famous, this plane is famous, you must be careful of yourself at all times. I shouldn't be here for too long either. See you soon, Kyoko-chan." Shoko raised her voice back up and smiled at Kyoko, gave her a slight wink and walked back.

Kyoko couldn't help but smile at her retreating figure. To think that she once detested her seemed so childish of her. Shoko-san was in every way, ideal, there was no better word to describe her. Her maturity, and sense of responsibility gained Kyoko's admire and trust. It could even be said that half of Fuwa's career was thanks to her.

Looking around her, Kyoko realized what Shoko said was no understatement. Everyone here are refined and celebrated, Kyoko felt plain just sitting beside them.

_Can't be helped if I'm just plain and boring._ She thought, she herself had already thoroughly accepted that statement, it simply doesn't matter anymore. She was simply a lucky fly, without the President, Kotonami and Tsuruga's help, where would she be?

_Tsuruga-san…Oh, it's lunchtime, are you eating properly? _Although she already knew the answer to the question, she couldn't help but think about him. It must be because he is her most important senpai who had taught her so much, so that whenever she had any problems her first thought would be him. She pouted, she should really stop that bad habit, or Tsuruga-san will really grow annoyed of her.

In these two years, their relationship have grown, after the first BJ movie where they had to act as Heel siblings, the movie was such a success that the director had created a sequel, where she had the pleasure to experience his impeccable acting again. However, it was weird, sometimes, she had the feeling that he was neither Cain Heel, Black Jack, nor Tsuruga Ren. Still, she shrugged it off, believing it was a part of his acting that she was not skilled enough to understand yet. The second movie had the part of Setsuka Heel in it; Setsuka played a minor role that didn't really require acting, not that Setsuka wanted to act at all. She played a sales girl that the main character had taken an interest of. Of course, she shrugged him off harshly. For a minor role, Setsuka Heel created a disturbance among the viewers, who had all been taken by her unbelievable acting and rather refreshingly stunning looks (which, in Setsu's case, was not acting at all).

"Eh? Kyoko? Kyoko-chan?" A rather high pitched male voice cried in surprise. Turning around, she found a man who was not there before sitting on the empty seat across from her. He had light brown eyes and dark brown hair, his eyes were very large and his hair was wavy with cowlicks along the way. He looked like a kid.

"Hello, nice to meet you, please take care of me." Kyoko said, bowing slightly.

"You really are really really pretty, Kyoko-chan, I really really like your shows." He clapped his hands together, smiling happily. Kyoko was hoping for him to respond with his name in return, but considering the type of people aboard this plane, the boy probably assumed that she knew him. Racking her brain for an answer, she came up with none. Despite being a celebrity herself, she had little knowledge of all the famous people within the industry.

"Thank you very much." She smiled dazzlingly at him, a trick that Tsuruga had taught her. His gentlemanly smile flashed in her head, blinding her. _I really have to stop relying on him so much_, she thought to herself.

"Say, can I sit with you for the ride, Kyoko-chan?" The boy asked, once again flashing his innocent grin. Nodding at his offer, he continued chatting to her, of course, still not knowing his name, she continued with her act, feeling quite guilty.

"Well excuse me, I'll be back, Kyoko-chan!" He waved at her and stood up, walking towards the men's room. _187cm, 64.7kg, skinny but well-built, muscles are well toned but not large. _She processed, a picture of a perfectly proportioned doll already in her head. _Tsuruga-san had more muscles; his are also well toned but quite evident. _She recalled_, Kyoko! Stop it!_ She pinched her finger slightly, what's wrong with her? She's only been away for a few hours…this was definitely not normal.

_But we should almost be there by now…_

As though on cue, an elegant chime filled Kyoko's ears, "Dear passengers, please put on your seatbelt and be ready for landing. Thank you for riding '- - - Airlines'." The speaker said and repeated in several different languages.

"Kyoko-chan, how about we exchange numbers?" He had returned, sat down opposite of Kyoko and put on his seatbelt.

Kyoko sweat dropped, this guy didn't even introduce himself yet!

"My phone isn't working, I'm sorry." She said, which was true, as it ran out of battery.

"How about I give you my number, and you can call me?" He insisted. Not knowing what to do, Kyoko declined again.

"Well, I'm sure we will see each other again soon, Kyoko-chan." He winked at her, grinning toothily. Examining his sincere smile, Kyoko can't help but smile back.

Few hours later:

_Wah! So beautiful!_

Stunning beaches, exquisite scenery, even the air felt magnificent. Palm trees and all, that was the capital. Kyoko stretched her arms out, allowing the tension of the flight to be absorbed away by the refreshing atmosphere. After how hard she was working, who wouldn't want a vacation?

"Mogami-san." A man's voice said, surprised, Kyoko froze.

_No, it can't be…_

Turning around, she found himself face to face with a young man, who was with two others.

_Yeah, no way could Tsuruga-san be here._ She thought, a little disappointed.

"Yes. May I help you?" She asked politely, the young man pulled out a leather pocketbook, and flipped it open, showing her that he was a palace guard.

"We are here to collect you by order of Queen Sato."

_Sato_, that was Mogami Saena's name after her new marriage.

"I see," She said quietly, all her feelings from a second ago evaporating, leaving her depraved and empty.

"I am Watanabe Yuuto, your guide for as long as the Queen wishes me to." He bowed to her.

_He really can't be more than 20, but already a guard…_ Kyoko thought, _he looks Japanese. _

"Will we be going to the palace?"

"The hospital." He replied calmly, she had not seen one single expression on his face yet, "The Queen wishes to see you, Mogami-san."

Kyoko swallowed, in a mere few minutes, she was going to see the mother who had abandoned her for twelve years. She felt feverish, her mouth felt very dry and she was sweating, she could not feel her surroundings. Everything spun and spun in a spiral around and around, twisting her in this ghostly sensation. Her blood was freezing and boiling at the same time, she was surely going to explode.

Before she knew it, and much too soon, the car approached to a stop. Someone had opened the door, probably the young man, but Kyoko did not notice, she stepped outside, her legs trembled badly, but she walked on, using every ounce of her strength to simply focus on walking.

The hospital was prestigious, not that she noticed, it was more like a hotel than a hospital, and it was built on money.

She reached the mahogany door, where on the other side laid her mother. She rested her hand on the golden doorknob, it was cool, her skin felt like ice against it. All the blood rushed to her head as she tried to turn it. Except that it would not, her hand refused to listen to her. After all this time, she could not even face her.

What had she done wrong except to serve her faithfully? Why did she deserve this brutal torture, and there that woman was, taking and taking, never giving anything back to her. She was just another vampire, sucking away the blood of its victims without any remorse.

So why is she not angry?

A surge of power flowed through her veins, determination. She pushed through the door and made her way towards the large, comfortable looking bed.

And she was calm again, as though the past hour never happened.

"Good afternoon, Queen Sato." She murmured quietly, her voice sounded strangely eerie against her ears. The woman was turned away from her, her long black hair flowed out behind her. She was crunched into a ball, as though denying the existence of those around her.

Hesitantly, she turned herself around to face Kyoko.

Her face was pale as a ghost; the large brown eyes that should have been beautiful lost all life and were sunken into their sockets. Her lips were thin and lines were all over her face, she did not look like a woman thirty-eight years of age.

Kyoko stared back into her eyes calmly, no sign of recognition for her own mother, no amazement at her mother's appearance. Nothing but total silence, Kyoko's eyes exhibited no sentiments.

"Kyoko…" The woman whispered, her voice was warm and lovely; it contrasted against the hollow sound of Kyoko's own voice. It resonated in Kyoko's ears like bells, what a beautiful voice for a woman with such an ugly heart.

Without warning, she sprang herself from the bed and sprang upon Kyoko, grabbing her by the shoulders. Bewildered, Kyoko caught the fragile woman on the elbows.

"Please! Help me, Kyoko… please. If you don't, my child will die!" She wailed, eyes wide. Taken aback, Kyoko simply stared at her.

"Your…your half sibling, the child that lives inside of me, please save my child." She sobbed, but her cries made no impact on Kyoko, who felt even more frozen.

"Children… so you do care about them, just not me." She murmured, her tone light and conversational, she smiled down at Saena. Under her tone and smile, Saena stilled, even her tears stopped.

"Could it be that it was because I'm not royalty so you could treat me like some worn out cloth?" She continued, still smiling, "Or is it just that you enjoyed seeing me suffer?" Her tone grew harsher in the slightest, but she maintained her bone-chilling smile.

"I…" Saena protested, attempting to break through Kyoko's accusations.

"You didn't mean it? You were young and foolish? You were in pain?" She gave a short tinkling laugh; several of her demons were already poking around, freezing the atmosphere.

"No! That's not it! I really didn't mean to, I was stupid, I didn't mean to hurt you but I was delusional, I…" She drifted off, realizing that she was repeating Kyoko's statement from merely seconds ago, her well-prepared speech lost in her throat.

"Frankly, _Mother, _I honestly do not care of your reasons. If you are here to use me again, tell me your orders, and I will carry them out and leave. And if all goes well, we will never see each again." She settled herself on a chain beside the bed, all traces of her smile gone.

"Yes, you're right, absolutely right…" Saena whispered, her eyes wide, as though amazed, or rather, horrified. "I'm hideous…" She let out an out of control laughter as tears streamed from her face, "and there I hoped my abandoned daughter to do something for me out of pity, pathetic. What am I thinking? Preparing what to say to persuade her, how shameful, can I go any lower?" She dropped to her knees, tears streaming from her eyes.

At this scene, Kyoko still felt nothing, or perhaps she was not able to be aware of anything anymore. Rising, she prepared to leave, but to her surprise, the woman grabbed on to her wrist.

"But… even if I am hideous and horrendous, even if I should be condemned to hell, please, my last wish, please carry it out, I must ask this from you, because you are blood-related to this child. When I die, it will surely be killed by my husband's sister, who is next in line for the throne, save it from that fate. Please…" She said pleadingly, holding on to her as though for dear life.

"Alright." She responded emotionlessly.

Saena let a sigh of relief, "Then, stay here, until it is born!"

_Watanabe Yuuto_, she thought, staring at the dark blue sky out the window, _age nineteen, very attached to the Queen. _She touched the wall of her room, _he is on the other side watching over me, she really is that scared that I will break my promise, huh?_ She sat down beside the window. Her heart felt buried the darkness, as though there were no light anymore, none to be found. Why did she feel this way? She covered her face in her hands, _I'm turning hideous too, Mother._

_But at least, the locks are fastening again._


	5. Chapter 5 Growing Distant

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters**

**I just realized how my story had really gone off track; maybe I'll make one for that story too. I was going to make Kyoko dead at first… but it ended up like this. Changing plots is really hard; I'm completely going blank right now. **

**Thanks for reading up to now, and bearing with all the stupid mistakes I make. The last chapter was an important intro to a certain character. **

**Chapter 5**

**Shopping**

"I'm taking modeling." Kyoko said casually to Ren, who was holding Takumi.

The street is not very crowded as no normal person could afford even a bottle of water from here. It was instead filled with the famous and the wealthy. Kyoko moved her sunglasses awkwardly, this was not the sort of street she normally went on, but she was used to the hat and glasses disguise. She shifted uncomfortably as her gaze landed on beautiful and carefree women, whose world seemed to be opposite of her own.

Oh if only she could see what everyone else could.

"I think the clothing line is called… '_Jambon'_" She continued, deep in thought.

"Jambon?" Tsuruga mouthed, trying to suppress his laughter, "Are you sure its not Jane-Song?"

"Yes! That's the one, Jam Song." She exclaimed, "It's only my third one, I hope I do well."

" Jane-Song is a popular designer, this clothing line is dedicated to her." He smiled kindly _Jambon…Jam Song… _

Her eyes widened, "Will I really be able to do it?"

Tsuruga smiled to himself, _she really has no idea_. After Kyoko's appearance in Box R, many modeling opportunities came through for her, but due to the fact that she was a mere sixteen year old, the company declined most of the offers by default. Now that she has returned, no doubt her workload will increase.

"Jane-Song is a gothic clothing line, I'm sure it would not be any harder than dressing as Setsu." Hearing these words, Kyoko bit her lip and reddened slightly.

"Dressing like Setsu? I… I see…" Tsuruga sighed inwardly; she had no problems with that when she was actually Setsu, but now…

Not that he wanted anyone to see her Setsu look.

She was in the second movie of BJ, it would not be good if she was exposed.

"Well, what about you, Tsuruga-san?" Her sweet voice blew away his thoughts, his mind felt oddly light.

"I'm filming a new movie in a bit and two television series, and various other little jobs." He shrugged.

She lowered her head, "I'm really sorry Tsuruga-san, even though you are always so busy…"

"No-" he began, but was immediately cut off by Kyoko.

"So, since now that I know everything about you." She started in a darker voice, stopping in her tracks. Surprised, Tsuruga turned to stare at her.

"Mogami-san?"

"You are a liar, a no good liar that does not deserve me attention, you are no different from Shotaro! Wait… there is a difference." She let out a tinkering laughter, "At least Shotaro was no murderer." She snared through clenched teeth. Her expression wild, her eyes narrowed and her face contorted to a twisted smile that did not suit her pretty features.

"I-" He protested, overwhelmed, just a second ago, they were fine, what was happening?

"I really no longer need you in my memory, so just fade away!" She took one step towards him, and with alarming strength, pushed him off some sort of barrier.

He started to fall through a deep abyss of despair, she hates him, she's going to erase him from his memory, she doesn't want him anymore… She found out the thing that he had wanted to keep from her the most, she doesn't want him anymore, not even as a senpai. She despises him…

Who told her?

How did she find out?

Screams rang through his ears; old memories and scars reappear before his eyes.

"Your fault!" A voice echoed especially loudly compared to others, "You should just die!"

If only death could take away the pain, he would gladly oblige.

"At least Shotaro was no murderer!"

He clutched his head in desperation to keep his sanity, he was going to die, this was surely hell.

His world shook gently, and before he knew it, a tender light peered through. He clung on to that light clawing his way out of the fading darkness.

_Despite everything, he still wanted to live._

"Tsuruga-san! Tsuruga-san! Are you alright?" A benevolent but apprehensive voice called. Blessed by its tenderness, Tsuruga opened his eyes.

"Mogami-san?"

"Good morning." She smiled warmly, bathing him in sunlight.

He rubbed his head, yesterday's memories slowly showered over last night's dream, and relief flooded over him.

That's right, what happened after was that they simply finished shopping for the boy and sent him back to LME, where he will be taken care of by the president for the time being. Kyoko will have to prepare for her exams as she was not here for university the whole of last year and a new semester was about to start. Nevertheless, considering it was Kyoko, the one on top of the year when it came to academics, sports, and all other subjects, Tsuruga often wondered how she never became popular in school but was instead bullied by all the girls.

Ah, but of course, if was all Fuwa's fault, doesn't matter how anyone look at it, Kyoko's life would be a success by now without him.

However, without Fuwa, Kyoko would never have entered the show business.

So in the end, everything she does, was still for him.

"Thank you for taking care of me Tsuruga-san, my apartment would be ready today and my cell phone has been reset-up, please do not hesitate to contact me." She said quickly, after bowing, she threw on her coat and made to the door.

_What?_

"Mogami-san? Where?" He asked, confused.

"It's time for work, my new manager is coming to pick me up now."

Oh yes, work, how could he have forgotten?

He stretched, and reached towards his phone.

Flipping it open, he stiffened.

64 missed calls Yashiro Yukihito

32 messages Yashiro Yukihito

10 missed calls LME: main

15 missed calls LME: second

Feeling a dark shiver down his spine, he looked at the time, 8 AM.

No doubt, he was doomed; the king of being punctual was late, for the first time in his life.

On cue, a series of loud chimes sounded at the door, expecting the termination of life as he knew it, he dragged his feet towards the entrance as Kyoko opened the door.

"MO! WHERE WERE YOU?" Kotonami burst in, one finger pointing directly at Kyoko's nose, "and I took the liberty to stop by your apartment! You know how long I waited for you? How long? Mo!" Her face was contorted in rage as she placed both her hands on her hips.

"Moko-san!" Kyoko jumped towards Kotonami, strangling her in a bear hug, tears streamed out of her eyes in happiness, "I missed you so much!"

A twinge of jealousy lit in Tsuruga's stomach, he sighed, at least it wasn't Yashiro.

"And what are you so happy about?" A bleak voice whispered at the base of his neck, sending a flow of shivers down his spine.

"Ah, Yukihito, shall we go?" He pointed a smile at him and walked casually towards the door.

"Of course, Tsuruga Ren, bed head and pajamas, on set, I sure would like to see that." He muttered grimly, a dark smile appearing on his face, "Did you know that I have been waiting for you since six AM? Have you any idea how many times I called you? I even went as far as going to the LME office and use the phones there after I broke my cell." He reached into his pocket and grabbed a crushed cellular device that looked like… absolutely nothing at all.

"I-"

"Well, I suppose it's okay… so how was it spending the night with her after not seeing her for a year?" He lowered his voice, making it so that the two women who were chatting animatedly, though one still rather angry, could not hear.

Tsuruga grimaced, truth to be told, he could hardly sleep. But now that Yashiro mentioned it, there seemed to be something off with Kyoko, she seemed more… comfortable around him, or at least much more than a year ago.

"She fell asleep the moment we got back." He said baldly, which was rather unlike Kyoko, who would normally be reluctant to sleep at some guy's house.

Yashiro froze, it couldn't be…

Their relationship deteriorated? It definitely could not be from Tsuruga's side that much he knew; perhaps Kyoko… had finally found someone during her year away? When she left a year ago, he was sure that he felt that spark between them; sure that Kyoko had finally returned Tsuruga's feelings, even if she herself said nothing about it. What happened this past year? What made her change?

"Ah yes, Moko-san, Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san, it seems as though my new manager has arrived, so I will be leaving now." Smiling, she bowed in Tsuruga's direction, "thank you so much for taking care of me."

Yashiro frowned, she neither seemed nervous nor afraid at Tsuruga, unlike from a year ago. Something has definitely changed, that much he was sure of. Could it be that Tsuruga is back to square one?

_I feel for you, my friend. _He sighed as he took notice of their final farewells before Kyoko disappeared through the door.

"Her new manager is a man." Kotonami muttered to the two of them, still pretending to be angry, though it was quite obvious to anyone that she was hiding her smile, "You've got your work cut out for you, Tsuruga. Let's see how the list is going now… Kijima, Hikaru, Fuwa, Vie Ghoul guy, Hokkaido Ryuu, Yamamoto… not to mention the numerous amount of fans she has gained." She counted off, smirking slightly. Tsuruga's expression darkened, he had forgotten in his brief happiness about the competition that had slowly built up.

How many times had Kijima whirled his way around to ask him about her in these past eleven months? How many times had Fuwa intercepted him because of her?

"Let's not worry about that for now," Yashiro said quickly, "I realized that you would be late and cancelled your first job, your second job starts in an hour, we leave in half. You're quite lucky though, you are the first person that she came looking for." Kotonami rolled her eyes and made a sound like a pig's snort.

"Whatever, I'm out of here." She strolled out the door as well, leaving the two men alone.

"What about you, Yukihito? Kotonami-san's also one of the Stone Age love-me members, how are you doing?" He teased, smiling slightly, though all his thoughts were on her. Yashiro reddened, strolling off, saying nothing.

"If you really wanted to, I wouldn't mind if you switch to managing her." He said, sitting down on the couch.

"Absolutely not! How are you going to manage without me? Do you think other managers are going to care if you eat or not? Without me, you would die of malnutrition." He said boastfully, pulling a chuckle out of Tsuruga.

"I suppose you're right." The two sat in silence for a while, Tsuruga deep in thought, when Yashiro interrupted.

"Ren, you would love to hear this." Yashiro smiled sadistically, pulling a couple pieces of paper out, "Watanabe Yuuto, Kyoko's new manager, he had no connection with anything show biz related up to now. Do you not find this a little… strange? Perhaps he is a fan of Kyoko's." Tsuruga took the papers suspiciously, flipping to the first page, he saw the man, he looked Japanese, with black hair and dark brown eyes, soft features and a natural perm. Tsuruga clenched his teeth, he looked rather handsome.

"Obviously, he can't compete with you if you're looking for looks or anything, but get this. He knew Kyoko-chan from her trip." At this, Tsuruga's eyes widened, to what degree does he like her if he was even willing to move for her sake? "But don't worry, he's not a bad person, a palace guard, apparently. How does Kyoko-chan get to know a palace guard though? It's a mystery all right. "Well, don't worry about that, you'll meet him soon enough." He said smugly, satisfied at how Tsuruga was right around his fingers.

"Black Jack, the third movie is starting again."


	6. Chapter 6 Watanabe Yuuto

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters**

**Don't know if it's okay on this website to put some swear words in certain characters mouths *cough* ****Shou***** cough*. Just a warning though, I'm still not quite sure so…**

**This is also a character introduction. I really didn't want to create any OCs but it seemed inevitable. Tell me what you think; I'm not good at grasping personalities and stuff like that. **

**Chapter 6: Watanabe Yuuto**

_November, has it been a month already? _The orange haired girl glanced at her reflection through the window. Black hair was growing out from under the orange, normally, she would already have gotten it cut and dyed twice already. However recently, she just didn't care.

She had seen her mother only that one time, intending to wait here just until the birth of the child, and then she would leave. This was her love-me request, the one that she had simply refused to accept, the only one that she had been so reluctant on.

The only one that had caused her nearly healed scars to be ripped open once more.

She smirked at her reflection

_How pathetic, Kyoko, all this time you're thinking about Shotaro? _Despite how she wanted to avoid it, despite how she hated herself for it, it was Fuwa who had finally healed her from her mother's wounds.

Her _love_ for him to be exact.

She grabbed her jacket and her small handbag and left out the door. The way to the hotel balcony was not long, but it felt like years to her, each step felt as heavy as elephants. She stepped out into the night, it cooled her this way, but there was someone there already.

Hiding herself behind a pole, she peered at him. He was tall, _183cm_, she thought to herself. He had wavy black hair, and a rather thin t-shirt on. Even from his back, she could tell from his unique physique that it was her guard, Watanabe Yuuto, who she had never spoken to unless the absolute necessary. She breathed out slowly, what was she hiding for? And with a breath of courage, stepped out and stood a meter away from him, he did not seem to notice her.

"Good evening, Watanabe-san." She said, greeting him with a warm smile. He froze suddenly, before turning towards her like a robot and saluting to her.

"I'm sorry Kyoko-sama! I had not noticed your presence! Please forgive me!" He bowed low and stayed that way. Kyoko twitched, _is this how I look to Tsuruga-san?_

"Ah! No, Watanabe-san, please, I… I mean, it's fine, I… it's really nothing…" She mumbled, flustered at his sudden apology.

"Please, Kyoko-sama, call me Yuuto. I do not deserve to be called anything so honorable." He continued to speak to her feet. She wondered if he liked that position a little too much.

"Yuuto… san… please, that would seem impolite of me." She smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to do, and with a sudden realization, piped up, "Only if you do not call me Kyoko–sama."

He paralyzed once again, and Kyoko leaned in, wondering if there was something wrong…

"I am of my humblest opinions extremely regretful Kyoko-hime! I had not realized!" Kyoko felt blood spurt out of her, _Hime!_ Her insides danced in joy, until she recognized why he had called her that.

"I'm not a princess, Yuuto-san, please, just Kyoko would be fine." She said exasperated, with a hind of ice, hoping that he would finally oblige.

"Very well then, Kyo-chan." He rose, "I am not a san either, I feel old if you call me that." _Kyo-chan?_ _This guy is really…. Extreme!_ He now stood completely relaxed, leaning against the balcony.

"Yuuto-kun." She said baldly, not knowing what else to say, or rather, utterly speechless.

"Eh? That's way too formal, how about Yuu-chan? That sounds way cuter." He smiled brightly, a little too brightly.

Kyoko eyed him suspiciously, _split personality?_ Making a mental note to herself to never be friendly or strict to him, she sighed, a tired smile on her face, her worries from previous forgotten behind her.

"Today's my birthday, Kyo-chan." He said absent-mindedly, he returned his gaze back to the distant night once again, a dull pain radiated from his eyes.

"Really? Happy birthday!" _though you don't look very happy_.

He smiled radiantly once again, "Thank you Kyo-chan!" and his eyes darkened once more, "every year, Queen Sato prepares a gift for me, but today, she's unconscious, and there was nothing I could do…"

_He's just like a kid, so hard to believe that he is actually a palace guard. But… mother, is she that kind of person?_

Never once on Kyoko's birthday had she received anything from her mother, it was always the same for her, disappointment, annoyance, anger, but she can just give gifts to palace guards, are they more important to her than her own flesh and blood? Is this a joke? Did she just enjoy torturing her to such an extent? A bolt of rage shot to her head, _unforgivable_.

"Well, good night, Wata-" Kyoko paused, catching Yuuto's expression, before waving her hand, "Yuu-chan, I'm very sorry." She bowed, and turned back to her room.

_What a strange man, _She shook her head, _it's no good thinking like that! _

She opened and slid into the room, closing the door behind her. Walking to her small suitcase, she dug under her clothes, and pulled out a miniature Ren-doll.

She lower lip quivered as she stared at it, instead of what she usually does with it, today, with trembling hands, she hugged it tight, She sighed deeply, letting out one shaking breath.

A month now, she's been pinned here for an entire month, her work forgotten back in LME. Neither allowed to contact anyone nor attract attention to herself, Kyoko was only allowed one call per week to President Takarada for report as well as his personal line and the palace guards for emergencies. Kyoko did not understand Takarada's extremities but allowed herself to believe that it was all for the best.

_Yashiro-san, is managing difficult for you now?_

_Amamiya-san, how's work?_

_Moko-san, what about you? How are you doing?_

_Tsuruga-san…_

She laid down on her bed with the Ren-doll still in her arms, she closed her eyes, she would not allow the tears to fall, there was no reason for them to flow anyways, she will stay see them in just another few months.

Few long, brutal months.

She moved slightly, no longer having the energy to thrash around, she permitted her thoughts to wander around her, surrounding her mind.

Until she fell, down through a dark hole.

"Shou! What are you doing? Where's the makeup artist? Why aren't you wearing your costume?" Shoko burst in, face contorted in rage. She pointed one accusing finger at the golden haired youth, who lay face down on the sofa, one hand holding a cell phone, repeatedly pressing the same buttons, again and again…

"Sent her away." He mumbled incoherently, continuing to torture his phone, except now more vigorously.

Shoko walked briskly towards him, eyes narrowed, "look, Kyoko is away on a business trip, that is all. _You_ have nothing to do with it; do you know how hard I worked for your image? And here you go, _screwing_ it up faster than you can say hello! What is the problem with you, she's not _yours_ to control, and you have _nothing_ over her anymore. And if you continue this, even if she is not here right now, she can surpass you easily with the image she left! Do you honestly want that?" She jabbed a finger at his back, causing him to flinch a little.

Satisfied at her little speech, Shoko sat down opposite of him, continuing to glare at him.

Fuwa stopped all movements at once. He remained still, but so did Shoko, and the two continued to pull at the silence, neither giving the other any signs of the desire to leave.

Suddenly, in one swift movement, Fuwa stood, turned on the spot, and flung his battered cell phone across the room, where it landed with a satisfying crunch. Breathing heavily, he too moved across the room, landing a solid blow on the now flattened cell phone.

Smiling slightly, he moved towards the door, his smile replaced by a solemn expression, he licked his lips, which were dry and hydrated. His voice would probably be raspy by now too. He grabbed the bottle of water beside the side table and took several gulps from it. Slamming it back down, he gave a wave over his shoulder and strolled casually out the door.

"Where-?" Shoko began, but was immediately cut off.

"A visit, I'm busy, give me a break." Sensing the finality of his tone, Shoko shook her head, and dialed the number to his next job.

_Shou, you really are stupid, I guess the old saying really hold its value, you don't know what you have until it's gone. _

"Tsu – Tsuruga-san, you have a visitor." A trembling assistant murmured, barely audible.

"Thank you." Ren flashed his killer smile at the assistant, dismissing him. _Don't expect to get any information out from that_, he thought irritably, _from anything really. _The corner of his mouth twitched, President Takarada's face appearing in his vision briefly. _That guy is going to get it someday…_

Contrast to his bright appearance, the actor continued to mutter darkly in his head, he checked his phone quickly, hoping for a certain message from a certain number to pop up.

Yashiro smiled, _he's been doing that every five minutes. _He turned his head around towards the sudden noise from the doorway, _Kanae-san shouldn't be here yet_… He thought, before catching a glimpse of the intruder, he twitched, _Ren is not going to like this. _

"Fuwa Shou! That must be him!"

"Is it? Oh, it is!"

"KYAAA! Shou-sama!"

Ren looked away, and started walking towards his dressing room, this was not a good time.

"You! I want to talk to you." Ren felt a hand on his shoulder, and as much as he didn't want to, suppressed the urge to grab that hand and throw the guy over his shoulder. Swiftly, he turned to face him, a dazzling gentlemanly smile on his face.

"May I help you, Fuwa-san?"

Fuwa's eyes narrowed, _this guy is good_.

"Information." He lowered his voice to just above a bare whisper; the word sounded menacing through his attractive voice.

Ren continued smiling, unperturbed.

Fuwa gritted his teeth, "I know it's not for free, so I will give you something in return."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, and with a swift smile, Ren turned on his heel and continued his walk to his dressing room.

"Hey! Wait! Wha-? Didn't you hear? _I_, am owing you a favor! Don't you know what this means? You should be jumping up and down with joy!" He shouted, flustered at Ren's response.

"You know, I have a _right _to know about her." He continued, his tone gradually becoming more menacing. Ren paused for a second at his words, _right?_

"She is _mine! _And mine alone!" _yours?_

"She's been mine for all her life! She is _enslaved to me!_" _Enslaved?_

"Hey! Turn around and listen to me!"

Ren turned abruptly, causing the startled Fuwa to lose his balance and slam into a wall.

Breathing heavily, Ren continued to glare at him, eyes dark. Alarmed by his bitter expression, Fuwa froze.

_What is this?_

"So what?" His heart pounded loudly in his chest, but he kept his voice steady. With all his might, he hoped that Tsuruga would not hear his drumming heart, which seemed louder than his voice.

"If you don't like it, do something about it, not that you can." He continued savagely, gaining back his confidence. The man continued to glare at him; _still the same as always huh, Tsuruga? All words and no action. _

"Whether you like it or not, she's mine. You can't take her away from me, as proven in the past two years. We've barely seen each other but I still have a much more overpowering impact on her heart! Ha! You're a joke!" He smirked, this was going well, only if he stopped glaring.

Clenching his teeth, he turned on his back and strolled away, _that's right; watch me walk away while you can do nothing about anything. _

"Ha… haha…" A slow laugh caught Fuwa's attention, _what?_ Fuwa frowned, he turned around, shock on his face, _this guy… he's… laughing?_

Tsuruga leaned against the wall, letting his emotions take over him. This was damn _hilarious_, he glanced at Fuwa, deep satisfaction filled him when he saw his face, which looked as though struck by lightning.

"You're still as childish as ever." He inclined his head, "everything you said up to now, shouldn't it be the other way around?" he walked past him, and turned into a room, closing the door behind him.

_What?_

_Is this guy crazy?_

_The other way around… what is he saying? That _I,_ of all people, am enslaved to _her?_ Ridiculous!_

He breathed heavily; his voice didn't even sound convincing to himself in his head.

_This is stupid_.

He slid down the wall and buried his face in his hands.

Strangely enough, her face appeared in his brain, the young Kyoko who reached out to him, as bright as the sun.

"Damn…"

_Knock knock knock_

Kyoko rolled over, and slid off the bed, she wrapped a robe around herself and walked towards the door.

_Miss cleaning lady is very early today_.

"Coming!" She ran through the rooms of the hotel, which was much too large and luxurious to her liking.

"I'm sorry, it seems as though I woke up late!" She bowed, apologizing.

"Kyo-chan!"

"What?" Watanabe strangled Kyoko in a bear hug, surprised, Kyoko remained limp.

"Watanabe-san…" She smiled weakly and ripped herself out with surprising strength, "can I help you?"

Hearing no response, Kyoko peered into his face.

_He looks crestfallen!_ Not knowing what to do, Kyoko shook his shoulder gently

"Hey, Watanabe-san," Watanabe sacked against the doorframe, all energy drained, his soul started to drift out. _No it's getting worse!_ She drifted around, and it struck her.

She looked back, smiling gently.

"Would you like some food and drinks? Please come in and sit down." _Attracting customers into the shop lesson 1: cute smile and polite language. Refrain from being assertive when addressing the customers. _

"You look very tired, are you alright?" A slight frown creased in between her brows, and a slight pout on her lips, she bent down and gently levitated her hand just above his shoulder. _Lesson two on dealing with customers: Maintain a caring tone but refrain from touching the customers. _

Slowly, Watanabe rose from his spot, and with Kyoko following, entered the living room. He took a seat on the couch and continued sulking. After setting a cup of water in front of him, she took a seat opposite of him, wondering what had happened.

"Kyo-chan, you're too harsh. Right after being so nice yesterday…" He sighed, a faraway look in his eyes.

Kyoko paused, hit by realization. _No it can't be, Watanabe-san is actually…? No, I should try it out first before concluding. _She nodded to herself, _that's right, never judge a book by its cover. _

"Yu… Yuu-chan?" She said tentatively, if her hypothesize is right, then…

Like a light bulb, Watanabe sat up grinning ecstatically, if he had a tail, no doubt it would be wagging.

Kyoko bowed her head, _he's an idiot._

"Did you eat this morning yet?" He shook his head, bouncing up and down in his seat.

Kyoko let out a short giggle, _he's like a child. _

"Would you like some omu-rice, then?" He nodded as Kyoko walked into the kitchen, how nostalgic. She remembered when the one time her beloved senpai had tried to cook, and how much it had failed. Though it tasted so… unique, she can't help but feel warm from the amount of pressure he seemed to have placed in that one meal. It was probably the most unforgettable dinner she had ever had. She smiled to herself, _Tsuruga-san, how are you right now?_ Then, she twitched horribly, it's been a month, an entire month since she had contacted him, for the past two years, she had not gone three days without some sort of communication with him. This was utterly atrocious; she couldn't bear to think about her retribution for when she returns. Not only that, she will have to go on without contacting anyone for at least, she counted her fingers, at least ten months for a baby to grow, it has been two since her pregnancy… she will have to stay here for at least eight more months! She pulled her hair with her hands, and then there's Moko-san too, what will she say to her? She was going to be beaten into a pulp! Oh, and of course, there's school too, her second year at university to be exact. She did bring all her books in advance, but there was definitely not enough study material, and what about her lessons? Her exams? She was so… there's really no other word to describe it, _screwed. _

She tossed the omu rice on to two separate plates, the smaller serving for herself and the other for Watanabe, or, 'Yuu-chan' as he prefers it. A dark presence appeared above her head, showering her with untouchable demons holding little hammers, all of which screaming their heads out.

"Mommy's going to be pulverized!"

"No! We will destroy any trouble that Mommy has!"

"Bu… but if it's Tsuruga-san and Moko-san…"

"A… ah… Kyo-chan?" _What's this scary feeling? I want to run but I can't move!_

"Your food, Yuu-chan." She muttered in a robotic voice, and proceeded to sitting opposite of him, muttering under her breath and moving her eyes wildly from left to right.

"Ah look, it's another pitiable human." One of the demons cackled, "Look at this, if you just touch him lightly…"

Yuuto felt something graze the side of his face, no doubt about it, it had to be the claw of death, as he froze over and turned into stone. _Someone save me!_

Let's just say, the morning was no good for Watanabe.

Few hours later:

"Um, excuse me, but where are we going?" Kyoko asked tentatively, she had thoroughly scolded her demons for turning Yuuto into stone, but that did not help her feel any better for making him go through with that. _How unprofessional, letting my emotions get the better of me, _after which, she had the miniature Ren doll reprove her.

"Oh, we're visiting the Queen." He said matter-of-factly, scratching the side of his head, "didn't I tell you?"

Kyoko froze.

_WHAT?!_


	7. Chapter 7 Dark Sun

**Funny enough, I started chapter 7 before 6, well, whatever, either way…**

**Chapter 7: Dark Sun**

The sun shown through clear blue sky, dissolving the many days of rain that Tokyo has had. At the very least, the city rarely snows.

He hated snow.

Shou sighed, _eleven months_; he's going to go crazy. Shoko had said she saw her in that country many months ago, but when he went therein hopes of meeting her, it shattered, so have his trips to meet Tsuruga Ren. Heck, he even went as far as working with those worthless LME talents to obtain information, as well as meeting that girl Kyoko liked so much, Moko-san or something.

He was drowning in a sea of despair, of darkness. Slowly, he felt as though he was moving farther and farther away from warmth, from success, from bliss. The equivalent as a planet drifting away from their sun, the very object of their survival, the center where it is crucial that they revolve around.

Therefore, he has reached a conclusion to his sufferings.

To him, Kyoko is an object that he must play around with, or he will not be able to exert the negative energy away.

That was all, no more, no less. He is still the same as ever, never changing, their relationship will always be the same. It _must_ be the same, what could _possibly_ become different?

_Shit, shit, shit._

Sighing, he crawled away from his bed, and with all of his energy, pulled himself back on to the set. In order for singers nowadays to survive in the world, they must be taking on various jobs. Some go for the obvious, albums, posters, and photo shoots, TV program appearances, personal life reports. The more attractive ones will of course be into modeling, and some even into acting. For Shou, it only seemed natural for him to complete them all.

The drama he was in now is only his second drama, but as expected from the great and wonderful _Shou-sama_, has already been given one of the lead roles. It's no different from the previous role, in fact, not unlike his current self. A famous actor that works his way to the top, admired by loads of girls who would do anything just to be able to be looked at by him. The only part different about that is that he meets some sort of lame girl in disguise who happens to be the top star in Tokyo, falls in love with her and all that random bullshit. He accepted this role almost a year ago when Shoko had announced that Kyoko would be the lead female. Unfortunately for him, the LME president himself had backed Kyoko out of this and said that she will be taking a short break. Naturally, Shou himself intended on backing out, if it were not for Shoko's warnings and blackmails, he would _never_ act with anyone else. Lucky for him, the replacement, Amamiya was rather cute, except that she simply hated him. Shou still wasn't sure if it was hate for him or for the role, except that she was exceptionally unusual and loathed this one actress that he himself thought was quite cute. Amamiya insisted she was only doing this because she was assigned to when Shou interrogated him, and much to his surprised, threw him a glare of despise.

Bored, he sat down on a table, putting his feet up on the chair beneath him. He pulled a magazine from beneath him that he unfortunately sat on.

_What the…_

His eyes widened, _Kyoko_

Title: Kyoko is seen walking with Tsuruga Ren… with a baby?

_What the…_

He flipped to the article, finding the picture of the woman wearing a hat and sunglasses. She was pretty, and smiling, her hair has grown to a half black, half orange state. He searched her face hungrily, hoping to find some sort of evidence as to what was happening.

If Kyoko was coming back, surely, _surely_, he was the first one to know.

Gritting his teeth, he jumped off the table and swiftly dialed a number, one that he didn't have to think about.

One ring, two rings, three rings…

"Hello?" A man's voice sounded through the phone, but not that of Tsuruga's.

_Wrong number, maybe? _

"Kyoko-san is busy at the moment, could you leave your name and phone number for me, I could ask her to call you back." The male continued, oblivious to Shou.

"Who the hell are you?" He shouted, _damn it, this isn't the time; I want to know… about the child. _

"Manager, I am her manager."

"Hijikata? You are not Hijikata." He murmured darkly into the small handheld device, menace reaching from his voice to the other side of the receiver. He had only heard of Kyoko's manager's voice a couple of times, but being a musician, his sensitivity to voices was no joke. This guy was _not_ Hijikata.

"Who? No, I am not. You see, I'm new. Haha…" Shou rolled his eyes. This guy was an idiot. The corners of him lips pulled up to a triumphant smile. _So the idiot resigned. Good._ Apparently, the previous manager was _very_ taken with Kyoko, who was half his own age.

"Yes, well, tell me where she's filming now." _No point terrorizing him now, I have plenty of time to do that when I meet him._

"Eh? But, I really shouldn't do that." Shou gritted his teeth, this is annoying, and this guy is wasting his precious time.

"Listen, I'm going to offer her a job, but I need to meet her in person, we have worked together before. I am actually a… rather special childhood friend to her." He smiled smugly, of course, he wasn't lying, he indeed held a _special_ position within her heart.

"Ah I see! Well, Kyo-chan has only been back to work for three days so far. She is currently at the _la fleur_ studios, though she would not be free for the next one and a half hours, is that fine with you?"

Shou frowned; _did that dimwit just call her Kyo-chan?_

"Listen," he growled, with much more alarm in his voice, _if I say anything now and he runs off to her…_ "… Nothing, it's fine."

_How annoying, Hijikata the second, huh?_

"Ren, good work." Yashiro held out a small folder, which Ren took, smiling.

"Thank you, Yukihito, where to now?" He opened the folder and slipped a card out of it, examining it.

"Well actually, you're free for the next three hours. I cancelled that job in order to fit in your next one. But… isn't this a little soon? The moment she got back… seriously, that director must be tracking her." Yashiro shook his head, "Guess it can't be helped, she's getting a little too popular for her own good."

"He did already delay the movie several months for her." He said, still smiling benignly.

"To think though, that you would finally see Setsu-chan again. Excited, Ren? How do you do it? Being in the same room as her all night for so many days." Yashiro giggled, his fan-girl mode switch turned on. He nudged Ren on the side gently with his elbow, but Ren, who was distracted by the television did not notice, which was probably better for Yashiro anyways.

"…now let's take a look at the drawings that the red team has drawn!" The television hostess announced, "first off, Ryota-san! Wow, Ryota-san, so this is your perception of Tsuruga Ren?"

"Haha, stop teasing me Sa-chan, you know I am quite horrible at art, everything I draw looks like nothing."

"On the other hand, Kyoko-chan, this is a masterpiece!" the hostess exclaimed, "truly amazing! Who knew that you could create something like this on a white board? And in merely ten minutes too!" The hostess held out the white board, which strikingly resembled of Ren.

Ren's eyes widened and so did Yashiro's.

This girl, was good.

"Ah… no… I… thank you very much." Kyoko bowed slightly, smiling and waving her hands.

"Also, Kyoko-chan, I noticed you were holding your marker with your left hand, are you left handed?"

"Eh? No, it's just that Ryota-san was left handed and our hands were bumping into each other so I switched." She explained, earning many awed looks from fellow actors and the hostess

"What? That is amazing Kyoko-chan! So you are actually ambidextrous! Wow, folks, there you have it, team red! Now let's move on to team blue…"

Ren tore his eyes off the screen and sighed lightly, there were still so many things he did not know about her, it really seemed amazing, considering just how much she seems to be able to understand him to the point of telling his physique apart from thousands of people and sensing his moods so easily.

"I didn't know that about Kyoko-chan…" Yashiro muttered, but catching Ren's slightly crestfallen expression, he twitched. "Let's go, Ren, if I don't feed you, Kyoko's going to kill me. But honestly I'm surprised, has she not commented on how you have lost weight?"

The corner of Ren's mouth jerked, how could she not? He was forced so much food down his mouth the day that she got back and was scolded so badly by her that he almost felt as though he was the younger one instead. Honestly, that girl never changes.

"Don't worry though, you'll see Kyoko-chan almost everyday now, live with her for days at a time even. This movie's a tough one, the scenes are so intense that there's no doubt that the director will instantly NG anything that's even just a little out." Ren groaned inwardly. Torture, they were surely trying to kill him with torture. That must be it.

"Well, since you're so close to her right now, why not go visit her? It's only a few minutes away by car." Yashiro suggested, shrugging. "She should be on her lunch break soon too, you guys can-"

"No," Ren cut him off, "I… don't want to interrupt her work." _Who am I kidding? Face her now? How the hell am I supposed to do that? _

"Come on let's go eat lunch, Kyoko-chan would kill me if she finds out you didn't eat lunch today yet." He sighed, grabbed Ren's planning and placed an obvious check on it.

And the two set out, neither noticed the magazine on the table beside the TV.

"Take your lunch breaks now people! Good work!" The red headed director shouted, smiling happily. _It was good to have her model; this girl's a genius!_

"Good job Kyoko-san!"

"Nice working with you, Kyoko-chan!"

"Thank you for taking care of me!"

Some long silver hair covered half of her face while the rest was pulled to a side ponytail, some strands of hair hang lose and were arranged fashionably, creating a messy, tousled look. A tattoo was visible extending from the base of her neck to precious bits of her chest, a vine. Covering parts of the tattoo lay a choker, and connected by a chain, was a star shaped silver pendant enclosed by a circle. Her hands and forearms were covered with silky, lacy, fingerless gloves that had some frills along the top. The gloves fitted well with her dress, which were strapless and black leather, with a silver zipper that ran from the bottom all the way to the top, separating her body in half. The dress cut off right beneath her bottom, hugging her tightly. She wore black stiletto boots with silver spirals running from her ankles to the middle of her thigh. The outfit was completed with blood red contacts that swallowed away her golden orbs.

"Kyoko-san, good work today, are you heading anywhere after?" the male model, and her co-star, Okita Akira asked, smiling. He too, was clad from head to toe in black and silver.

"Yes, I'm starting a new job today actually, what about you, Okita-san?" She murmured, moving as less as possible as the hairstylist removed the silver wig.

"That's a pity, I was free today and I was hoping we could have dinner together. Maybe next time then." He winked and accepted a package from the costume designer.

"Yes, maybe. Oh, the next one is the last one!" Kyoko too took a package from the costume designer, which to her surprise was light and white. "Well, see you, Okita-san, thank you for taking care of me!" she bowed lightly and returned to the dressing room, leaving the costume there, she departed for lunch.

_What should I have today? _

"Kyaaaaa!" A loud piercing scream shook the air molecules around Kyoko, who, startled, look over. "It's Fuwa Shou! Kya! I can't believe it!"

"Chou-san, please have a hold of yourself! You're a professional actress!" Her companion said to the girl, who held her red face under her hands.

Kyoko opened her eyes wide, disbelief reflected in her large golden irises. _Why?_

Fuwa walked past the girl with long strides without so much of a look at her, today, he was here for only one person.

Defrosted, Kyoko marched off in the opposite direction, _this_ was not the time, and at least she needed to take this to a private setting. Unfortunately, Shou saw her, sighing solemnly, Kyoko gave him a glance, and as though through telepathy, the two communicated quietly, but around them, air froze, and dark, demonic force took over around Kyoko, who turned away, walking off into a deserted corridor.

Following ten steps behind, Shou turned as well.

Though no exchange of words were heard, no gestures were made, everyone in that room at that time knew that those two ought to be left alone, and no one wanted to break that.

She stopped abruptly and closed her eyes.

This past year, all she had learned, all she had lost and gained, now was the time to express them. Now was time to show that she had truly grown up, that she had thrown away the old Kyoko and was now reborn, stronger and more mature.

Several of her demons started to appear out from behind her (who knows where), one from above her head.

"Wait," the one on top of her head muttered, "I'll check the surroundings." It swerved away from the other demons, extending its blue flagella (if that's what it is…) and within a few seconds came back.

"Reporting!" It saluted towards Kyoko and the other demons; "target will reach in approximately five seconds, in approximately five seconds!"

"We shall eat him inside out!"

"Install terror in his very soul!"

"Wait, don't do anything…" Kyoko muttered darkly, "That would only be pleasure to him, the sadistic idiot…"

"But mommy…"

"Quiet! Whatever mommy says, we will stand by, but we will of course protect her heart from that evil substance called love forever!"

Kyoko waved her hand, stopping all of her demons with a single wave. She stood waiting for the growing footsteps to reach her.

_She needed a character, now_

In a split second, a stance slackened, she stood leaning against the wall, one leg bent. A bored expression overpowered her determined one, and suddenly, all her demons vanished back into her, though the dark aura had not completely evaporated. This time, she herself was the demon.

A slow, cold smile domineered her face.

**So, thank you for reading up to here, I get that it gets boring at parts and you would skip it. To be honest, it's fine if you only read the 'present' part of the story, the part that's set in the present, and the trip that I'm writing about is just to explain slight changes in her personality through her experiences…**

**I'm hoping to start a Q&A/would you rather/truth of dare section for the characters.**

**If you're interested leave questions, or dares in the comments bar or message me. I'll receive it in my email either way so…**

**People used to do this all the time before but it seems as though the idea has deteriorated. I really hope this works well!**


	8. Chapter 8 Irreplaceable Saviour

**I didn't write about Shou for like… five chapters, so this one's dedicated to Shotaro! And their love/hate relationship. **

**I wrote this before I wrote chapter 7 and wrote chapter 7 before chapter 6… this is messed up.**

**Basically this is their (Kyoko and Shou's) past from (mainly) Shou's point of view. **

**Not very important chapter, feel free to skip it, as I know how much people hate this guy.**

**Chapter 8 Irreplaceable Saviour**

"You're smelly! Smelly and ugly! Gross! You should just go away and never come back!" The boy shouted, landing kicks on to another boy's body.

The other boy attempted to cover himself, but failed miserably.

"Ryuu-kun, stop it!" An elderly lady appeared, dragging the boy away from the other boy, "This is the third time this week, if this happens again, you will have to leave." She said sternly, pointing her finger at him.

The boy stuck out her tongue, "Shut up you old hag! Everyone does this to him, he deserves it, ugly people should just go away." And he ran off before she was able to say anything.

"Shou-chan, are you alright?" She lifted the boy on to a seat and wiped his face with a moist towel.

The boy had unkempt brown hair that covered his eyes and ragged clothes that were grimy and pungent. He pushed her hand away and turned away, throwing the towel on to the ground.

"Nakamura-san, there's no use in trying to help him. That boy doesn't like anybody." Another elderly woman appeared, she was thin and tall, in her hand, she held that of a young girl's, who was sobbing quietly. "This is Kyoko-chan," she lowered her voice, "her mother sent her to at that boy's house now." She jerked her chin at Shou, who stared at their direction, though it was hard to tell what he was looking at, since his eyes were covered.

"Ah, Kyoko." Nakamura nodded in recognition, "wasn't she the little genius that was sent to a grade two class and became the best in her class? What a horrid woman that Mogami is…" she sighed, "come here Kyoko-chan, I'll introduce you to the other children." She smiled kindly.

"If I'm good, mother will visit me more… it's because I'm a bad child,…" she sobbed, "Mother's not bad, don't say that about her…"

The old woman frowned sympathetically, leaning in to hug her tight, "It's alright now, child, you are safe here."

"Everyone, we have a new friend today!" The thin woman called, smiling at the children who sat quietly at their desks.

At the sound of a new student, all of their eyes lit up in excitement, and some started shouting out.

"Come on in, Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko walked in, smiling slightly, her pigtails bounced as she walked.

The children's eyes shined. Her presence was like spring, and her smile like a winter sun, burning through the cold snow.

"So cute! Kyoko-chan is so cute!"

"Cute!"

"Um, please take good care of me." Kyoko bowed, and silence took over.

"Sit here Kyoko-chan!"

"No beside me!"

The children screamed, all of which were now standing and shouting, creating a hassle. Nakamura held her hands up and rang a small bell, like magic, all the youngsters stopped.

"Kyoko-chan will sit here, beside Aoi-chan" The dark haired girl smiled and waved at Kyoko, who excitedly waved back. "And Isamu-kun." A boy who was on the other side of Kyoko grinned at her and greeted her quietly.

Shou gazed at her from a corner of the room, he didn't understand why all the children liked her so much, though he himself wanted to be closer to her. Yearned to wave and smile at her, craved to be able to greet her like all the other children who flocked around her. In comparison to her, he was the one that was completely cut off, the plain and boring Shotaro that nobody cared about.

He sighed and rested his head on his desk. The day was almost over, he would have to walk home soon, and he would probably meet Ryuu again. He clenched his small fists, if only he could strike him back, even just once. He sighed deeply, Ryuu was annoying, he _hated _Shotaro, or rather everybody that was dirty. Shotaro didn't really care, what was the point of cleaning? Rather, he was used to his hair over his eyes, it felt really nice because no one knew what you were looking at, so Shotaro could sleep in class without being caught.

Shotaro let his thoughts drift off, allowing them to wash over him, taking over his consciousness…

"Shou-chan," A soft voice said, startling Shotaro, who jumped badly. He turned around quickly, and was surprised to find Kyoko, who was blinding him horribly with her smile. _Shou-chan_, he thought, he liked that.

He opened his mouth, but closed it again and swallowed hard, she was too cute, that smile penetrated all his defenses, he couldn't think.

"You know, your parents took me in… so I thought that we could walk back together?" She looked at him intently with large golden eyes, how could he say no?

"Hey you, the stupid hikikomori." Shou stiffened, _he's so annoying_, he thought. He swallowed and walked away, Kyoko would be here soon, it would not do good if she saw.

Unfortunately for him, Ryuu was not going down so quickly. He smacked him own leg straight into Shou's knees, a clean hit, causing Shou to fall miserably and painfully on to the cement ground.

"Ha-ha, how useless." Another boy mocked, Shou recognized him as one of Ryuu's friends, or followers, more like.

He felt his heart pound loudly, he never liked it, violence frightened him to bits, the frozen feeling extended throughout his body, _no, can't let Kyoko see_.

"Shou-chan!" The familiar cry rang in his ears. Startled, he stood up quickly, attempting to shield himself from further humiliation, but to his surprise, Ryuu and his friends were no longer surrounding him.

"Kyoko-chan!" he said in a honeyed voice, "come to my house, my mother makes reeallly good red-bean cakes." He grabbed on to one of Kyoko's arms, and one of his friends grabbed on to the other.

"No, it's okay, Shou-chan and I-" Ryuu shot Shou dirty looks of despise, which was not caught by Kyoko.

"No, I'm sure you'll like it better with-"

"Hey! Didn't you hear her?" As though a fire lit in Shou's heart, he stood up, feeling dreadful but proud, "she doesn't want to go with you, so just leave." He shouted, breathing heavily.

Ryuu's face contorted in rage as he started to walk towards Shou, who was shaking badly.

"No! stop! Ryuu-kun, I really have to go home today though." Kyoko suddenly screamed out, earning her a look from Ryuu, "Please?" she flashed her killer smile, causing Ryuu's face to redden.

"Tch," he rolled his eyes, "you, hikikomori," he muttered in a lower voice, "you get away from Kyoko-chan, you are way too ugly and dirty, how could someone like you even _think_ about walking beside her? How annoying." His cronies sniggered behind him, pulling faces at Shou.

Shou who was used to Ryuu's pointless, and frankly quite idiotic insults felt an odd tug in place of his heart. He turned to look at Kyoko, who was shining so bright, and down at himself, dirty and ragged, the child that nobody else liked. A small tear flowed down his cheek, and before long he was sobbing loudly in the middle of the street.

"Shou-chan, don't cry!" Little Kyoko smiled at him, holding something out, "I have pudding."

Shou stared at her through his messy brown hair and took the pudding, which turned out to be delicious. Kyoko smiled at him as he ate his pudding.

"Shou-chan isn't ugly," she murmured softly, gingerly, she parted his hair, showing startling large and watery brown eyes. They were soft and clean-edged, and overall, beautiful.

"Shou-chan is very pretty." She hugged him tightly, Shou, who could do nothing but be overwhelmed, swallowed and patted her head.

"Kyoko-chan is my princess." He smiled, his heart filled with warmth.

Kyoko's eyes widened, "really? Shou will be my prince?"

Shou nodded fervently, "of course! Forever!"

"Shotaro! Where's Kyoko?"

"She probably went out to play."

Shou pouted, _Kyoko's always in the forest recently, and whenever she's a home, she cries. _Shou sighed, feeling pity towards Kyoko, whose mother had recently left her here full time and rarely visited, but also guiltily happy, as Kyoko will be staying at his place now for who knows how long.

In order to become Kyoko's 'prince', Shou cleaned and cut his hair, changed his clothes, and had become more sociable towards everyone else in the class. They were only in grade one, but it was obvious that many girls had already started to love him for his rather cute and handsome features.

Shou lay on his back, Kyoko seemed so far out of reach, she's always so perfect, so beautiful… doesn't matter what she does, the entire class appreciated it. Yet for some reason, recently, Shou felt the girls in his class start to distance themselves away from Kyoko.

Grade three: Kyoko stopped taking care of her hair, it lay in ruins on her head.

Grade four: Shou started to realize his popularity with the girls.

Grade five: the bad rumors became worse around Kyoko, and Shou came to recognize Kyoko's love for him. It was too obvious that she was head over heels for him. Shou liked it quite a lot.

First year middle school: Shou's popularity gained him much female support, and Kyoko who had become alone and friendless dropped to the bottom in terms of popularity. Her only friend was Shou, who was beginning to recognize her plain and obvious actions around him, it was getting annoying and frankly, boring.

Second year middle school: Shou's life was perfect, with the exception of a certain stupid girl and annoying parents.

Third year middle school: He had had enough, it was time for his escape, and time for glory.

There was that time in the beginning where he sincerely needed her in Tokyo, she was certainly useful, loyal and naïve. She was nice to him, and everyday was quite entertaining. Oh well, he could still stay like this for a little longer.

His first single was a big hit! His fans are gathering and success was starting to reach him, he found himself a sexy manager and a company who would gladly take his style. This was the life, who wouldn't stay at their hot manager's place when compared to a plain, ragged, dirty, ugly, boring girl?

So she found out, so what? So she left, who cares? So… why does his heart feel as though there was a hole tearing through it?

He found her again; excitement ran through his veins, she sure seemed different. What was this he was feeling? She's getting quite… stimulating?

He can't stop thinking about her, she's poisoning his veins, invaded all the corners of his brain… he had to meet her again.

Why was she with Tsuruga Ren? What is their relationship? No, he was not jealous; he had no reason to be. Besides, he was only claiming his property.

Kyoko's in danger! With nothing else on mind, he saved her, which was ridiculous, he wasn't worried for her, he just didn't want that guy who was his problem go hunt for his pet… Yes, that was all.

He couldn't stand it! Why is she giving that guy chocolate? Does she love him or something? What a liar, and there she's saying she can no longer love.

He stole her kiss, now there will be nothing but him on her mind. He didn't like that kiss, it didn't feel good at all… it couldn't… now if only if he stopped dreaming about her lips…

She disappeared? What happened to her? Why hasn't she said anything? Why was he getting worried?

Why was it that he can no longer think of nothing but her? Why was it that looking through her pictures and dramas made him think that she looked, just a little bit, attractive? Why was he so damn annoyed when she's interacting with others?

Why hasn't she come back yet?

Where are you?

Come back!

Don't leave me alone…

I can't…

Because since the very beginning, you've got me wrapped right around your finger.

And I will keep on denying it forever and ever, because in the depth of my heart…

You have taken away every lock and stolen my heart with the key that I gladly thrust into your warm hands.

So take me away, with that smile of yours again.

So help me once again like you did that ugly and dirty boy.

Though this time, cleanse my soul instead.

Because I know, I will no longer be able to carry on without you since that very day when your smile took me away.

**Thank you for your review! It feels really nice to have someone who have the same opinions as me! Her demons are just too cute! **

**Anyways, it seems as though my idea didn't work out very well, oh well, I just really want to write this since this chapter is shorter than the previous few.**

Kyoko: it seems as though our work is done today, thank you for taking care of me!

Ren: do you need it ride home?

Kyoko: i-if it's not too much of a problem, Tsuruga-san.

Ren: * smile * not at all Mogami-san.

Shou: only a plain and boring woman like you would be glad at how everything turned out.

Kyoko: *glares *

Shou: don't tell me you didn't notice, not a single question for you, nobody gives a crap about you and your boringness.

Kyoko: Hoho, and you've just been _adored_ over, haven't you? Mr. Popular?

Shou: the only reason is because you're here!

Kyoko: Shut up! Stupid Shotaro! It's all because your fat head can't even fit through the doorway and it's blocking everyone else's faces!

Shou: What? I'm the only thing in here that's worth reading!

Kyoko: Says who? Just tell me who? (looks around) You're such a jerk that even jerky can't win a jerk fight with you! Jerk!

*silence *

Ren: Mogami-san –

Shou: Ha! You've got to be kidding me? Don't tell me you haven't seen how this guy looks at you?

Kyoko: Just because Tsuruga-san is capable of simple etiquette does NOT mean that he's a pervert like YOU!

Interviewer: Mr. Tsuruga Ren, how is your actual life outside the stage? (Shou: You don't only have no head, you're blind too!)

Ren: Ah, well as you see, it's exactly how it looks. (Kyoko: I'm blind? Say that BEFORE you wear something that embarrassing outside, you'd look better wearing nothing at all! No if you do, you'll just scare everyone to death!)

Interviewer: so you do not stop them like you do on stage?

Ren: *smiles brightly * what do you mean? It's Monday.

Interviewer: I don't understand. (Shou: you WISH that I was nude!)

Ren: It's Monday!

Interviewer: You don't need to say that so loud

Ren: IT'S MONDAY!

Interviewer: GEEZ I GET IT!

Kyoko: Oh Tsuruga-san! I'm sorry! I didn't realize it was Monday, I'm so sorry. Let's go soon, I hope we're not late!

Interviewer: … (what the hell is happening?)

Ren: that's alright, just remember next time.

SCORE: Ren: 1 Shou: 0

_Not long after the interview, the Heel siblings were spotted outside of Umazaki hotel._


	9. Chapter 9 Natsu's Awakening

**I have…**

**Absolutely nothing to put here today. **

**Today's just… bad.**

**Chapter 9 Natsu's Awakening**

"Ren, is this really okay? Kyoko-chan's on her break now you know. Good opportunities like this don't come that often." Yashiro sniggered at his friend, who was obviously itching to see the girl, though Yashiro doubt no one else except he could tell.

"No, I will see her when her shoot is over." Ren stated, in a final sort of tone.

"Ah well, it's your loss, but I did ask Kyoko-chan to phone on her break, it's not like her to forget." Yashiro put on his gloves and took out his phone, which lay motionless in his hand.

Ren frowned, "something important must have come up."

"You should check on her, she is a top actress who have just returned after disappearing for a year, it is perfectly possible for her to be bombarded by fans." He suggested, shrugging, though his eyes still showed evident anxiety, it just was not like Kyoko to break promises.

Sensing Yashiro's insecure feelings, Ren smiled gently, "It's alright, Yukihito, I'm sure Kyoko is fine, she is with the whole crew, they are probably working over time." His words sounded dry in his mouth, it definitely was not what he believed, and judging by Yashiro's expression, the latter did not either.

Footsteps resonated in the empty corridor, coming ever closer to the cool-headed girl who rested herself against the wall, relaxed and bored, the only thing missing from the scene was a cigarette hanging from her glossed lips.

She fixated her eyes on the entrance to the corridor, a dull look on her face.

As the tall figure appeared from around the corner, she cocked a smile, lazing up a corner of her lips, though it was a smile that did not reach her eyes.

The golden haired young man nodded at her, face solemn, though his gaze revealed a hint of surprise, one that did not slip past the girl.

Neither broke the silence, both stood, a foot apart from each other. One could describe this as the last meeting of two lovers who no longer contained any endearment for each other, a dead, brutal silence.

The girl turned around, the smirk never leaving her face, and aimed a wave behind her.

"Wait!" She turned around at the voice; her eyes slipped from his face to his lingering fingertips, which stopped in mid-air, a possible attempt to grab her.

He opened his mouth, but seemed to have thought better of it. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he grabbed a magazine from the inside of his leather jacket. Swiftly, he tossed it at her, who caught it with one hand.

"Explain it, so the moment you get back, you decide to go on a rampage with some guy carrying a child. So that's what you were doing, huh? _Using_ him to get to the top? Is that it? What kind of miserable bitch are you?" He spat venomously, voice low, he glared at her.

She flipped through the magazine and arrived at the article that she was looking for, her expression unreadable.

Steadily, a slow, but terrible grin dominated her face, her eyes danced with amusement.

"Interesting," she giggled, "just _ravishing_." She looked back at him, a satisfied smile on her face at his astounded expression, and tossed the magazine back into his hand. She turned around completely, a hand on her hip; she shifted her weight on to one food and cocked her head at him.

"Is that all?" she lifted her hand to her mouth, stifling a yawn, "I can go now?" She threw the magazine back to him lazily and turned once again.

Shou winced, perhaps it was her emotionless tone, or her ice-cold eyes, but whichever one it was, it lit a fire in his chest, boiling his blood.

Hell was he angry.

He caught up to her in several long strides and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He leaned in to her and swept a lock of her eyes away from her ear and neck.

"Cocky today aren't we? Fiery for a _rag_." He whispered gently, blowing bits of wind into her ear, "Remember your place." He murmured harshly, his breathing heavier than before.

He hated it, everything about her right now, that expression, he wanted nothing except to tear it to shreds, see her crumble towards him.

She whipped around, catching his face in his hair; their faces were millimeters apart, their lips nearly touching. He could count every single eyelash if he wanted to.

She searched his face, sliding her eyes from his nose to his mouth and back up to his eyes, meeting his gaze with newborn interest.

Cold, and hard, it sent shivers down his spine.

"If you didn't remind me, I would have forgotten." He could catch her alluring scent coming through every word, he held his breath in desperation as to not lean in to her at this very moment.

This was the first time he had ever seen her so sexy and dangerous, the first time that his body was signaling him to push her as far away as possible, and then run away screaming. Yet, he was caught, like a fish in a net, struggling without oxygen, he was taken captive by this Kyoko.

She lifted her head a bit more, his eyes opened wide as his heart started beating like drum, so hard and fast that he was sure that she sensed it. He could almost feel her lips brushing against his own, if he leaned in just a little more…

"I still have to pay you back for that don't I?" She leered, "what would you like? Course A, where I will tread over you and mark you all over with myself, or course B, much less painful, but in a way that you will never recover?" She closed her eyes, and stood very still.

Shou swallowed, he could not, however, his instincts are overpowering him. Her soft, smooth skin was much too close to him, and those luscious lips were just there… waiting. Slowly, he leaned in and closed his eyes, lust had taken over, it was safe to say he had never felt this way about any other human.

"Course B it is," his eyes fluttered open, she was already walking away, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing he could do to stop her.

"Damn!" He smashed his fist into the wall.

**Short chapter, but I'll make sure to get the next one up faster. **


	10. Chapter 10 Realizing Victory

** anonymous: did Kyoko kiss Shou?**

**You'll find out (now)**

**If you're looking for a disclaimer, I believe I have one in the beginning somewhere, though I don't think anyone is, so…**

**Disclaimer: All Gintama character belong to Hideaki Sorachi, I own nothing.**

**This chapter has too much swearing on one part, but I think the rating is still safe.**

**I finally got to write about Natsu! Is my Natsu too OC? I honestly can't tell, so if anyone read it, please give me some tips! I think it was too OC, but I can't take a good grasp of where… **

**Chapter 10 Realizing Victory**

Yuuto Nakamura peered through the corridor, he heard faint voices that sounded awfully like Kyo-chan's, who had suddenly disappeared, but he was not quite sure. Curious, he stepped into the hallway.

His eyes opened wide at the scene in front of him.

_That's her isn't it?_

Her face merely millimeters from the blonde, their lips nearly touching. Yuuto struggled to hear what they were saying, but could only catch few words.

"Course A or course B?"

Yuuto frowned, _the lunch menu? Course B of course, course A is pure vegan. _

The blonde closed his eyes and leaned towards her, Yuuto's eyes popped out.

_I should leave…_ he decided, before he turned, he saw the girl pull away fast and aim a short wave at Yuuto while the blonde's eyes were still closed. She was smiling slightly at Yuuto, who was deeply confused but had enough manners to wave back.

Few moments later, he saw the blonde's eyes open again, obviously confused at the lack of body contact from his companion. Yuuto, who was brawling with his sudden urge to laugh at him dodged out of the corridor. _Haha, he thought she was going to kiss him_.

_That was a good joke; I'll congratulate her later._

He grinned broadly and ran forward to the kitchen to pick up his course B.

"What the hell is this about? How the fuck are you going to explain this to me Tsuruga Ren? You're cheating on me?" Ren sighed inwardly, _not the time; this is definitely not the time. _

"Ano, Yamamoto-san-" Yashiro tried, but only to be cut off by the brunette.

"Not a word from you, Yashiro!" She screeched, "so the moment that _whore_ comes back you dump me for that piece of _garbage_?" Ren winced, this was just too much.

"Yamamoto-san, we were never dating, and Mogami-san and I were simply-" Her eyes screwed together in anger as she pointed one accusing finger at him.

"_Damn _you, you piece of _shit_, why don't you just go eat _dirt and die_!" She shook in rage, "I know you're Cain Heel, what if I reveal that? Haven't you thought about that before you treat me this way?"

Ren sighed once again, if he doesn't hurry, he's going to be late for Kyoko.

"Yamamoto-san, you know perfectly well that the president would not allow that, also, I only just met you one week ago. So if you please don't mind, I do have some business to take care of."

"_Business_, to hell with that! You're just off to fuck that little whore! Bastard! Don't fucking lie to me!" She shouted without a beat.

Yashiro winced, he had just seen something snap in Ren's expression, and that was never good.

"Yamamoto-san," he smiled, "may I remind you that our scheduled meeting to work on your new, _promised_ interview of me is still unconfirmed? So in order for me to clear my schedule for that, I will need to finish _all_ of my work at hand, so if you please…" He moved past her, "I will see you then."

Yamamoto Muira spun around, brown hair flying. Yashiro, who had just felt a lightning bolt of inspiration smiled at the despicable woman, "for the record, Yamamoto-san, Ren does not like women who had more than five plastic surgeries done on them." Satisfaction dimmed his anger when he saw the woman's jaw drop open.

"You seem rather sadistic lately, Yukihito-san."

_Says the Emperor of the Night_, Yashiro thought darkly, "Excited to see a certain someone aren't we?"

"I certainly am happy to work with an actress as capable as Mogami-san." He replied, smiling.

"I honestly don't understand your logic. You've been together for three years but still reply to each other so formally." Yashiro shook his head in desperation, "Seriously Ren, what are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything." He stated, "and there's nothing going on between Mogami-san and I, so there's no need for us to be any closer together."

"You've _slept_ together for God's sake!" Yashiro threw his hands in the air in desperation, not understanding this man's logic. The most popular and wanted man in Japan, succumbing in fear of a nineteen-year-old girl, it was just ridiculous in Yashiro's opinion.

"We are actors, it's our job." He said in a final sort of tone, and Yashiro, who understood, decided in one of his better judgments to zip his lips.

The two boarded Ren's very new and sleek sports car, silver again, just like how Ren likes it. The rest of the trip stretched out into a comfortable silence, with the company of the radio.

"And now, the latest topic yet, Kyoko-san's return!" A very girly and squeamish voice squeaked over the radio, "and on her first sighting, as reported by Tokyo-Now magazine, her date with popular actor Tsuruga Ren and the presence of a _baby_. Now the timing is very correct, considering how long Kyoko has disappeared from the face of the world. Just what is going on? Our investigation is still continuing, and we will let you know very soon! I am Ketsuno Ana and we are the Biz! Now the newest song from Otsu-chan" She finished excitedly, giving a short giggle at the end of her rather short but revealing speech.

Yashiro swallowed hard as he glanced towards Ren, sweat dropping, _oh why does it have to be me_ he thought desperately, _of all the times_… he moved his hand to the radio turning it to a different channel.

"Today we have Otsu-chan's Omae no tou-chan chome chome! Enjoy" The radio host said, and the loud music crashed against both Ren and Yashiro's eardrums, wincing, Yashiro turned the volume lower.

"Yukihito, both Mogami-san and I fully understand the show-business world, I do not feel disturbed at all by the information, there really is no need for you to feel uncomfortable." Ren said quietly as the music continued to blare.

_Chome-Chome sore wa kiken na invitation_

_Chome-Chome sore wa suteki na intonation Ah Ah~_

Yashiro cringed, _sure, I totally believe you, Ren. _

On cue to save Yashiro from embarrassment and interrogation, his phone rang. Quickly, Yashiro pulled on gloves and took out his cell and answered it.

"Moshi moshi," he answered, "Kyoko-chan, before you start to apologize, it's _fine_, neither Ren nor I are the _least_ bit worried, so please do not feel responsible about anything. Alright, you may continue."

"I'm still very -"

"No, stop."

"But Yashiro-san"

"You heard me, Kyoko-chan. And please don't call me that, it makes me sound like an old man," he laughed, "We've known each other for a very long time, Yukihito is fine." He eyed Ren, smirking slightly, hoping that he will soon follow his example; it honestly is not that hard, Yashiro could not understand why the man felt uncomfortable with the simple gesture.

"I understand, Yukihito-san." Kyoko said solemnly, though the change made Yashiro slightly giddy, since their age did have a big difference, though Kyoko did not know that, perhaps he should not have lied. The name sounded awkward to Yashiro's ears, and he could tell Kyoko felt the same.

"Well, then we will be there soon to pick you up, are you ready?"

"Um, yes." Kyoko squeaked a little guiltily, Yashiro cringed, no doubt Ren was going to find out and beat it out of her, whatever it was, Yashiro sincerely felt sorry for the girl.

"Ten minutes. Get ready." He hid the slightly warning note, hoping Kyoko would catch it and use the time properly.

"Alright, bye then, Yashiro-san." He pressed the button and took off his gloves, sighing, he felt Ren's eyes slide towards him, and sat up stiffly. After talking to Kyoko, he completely forgot what he had just done, and was receiving a beating from the inside of Ren's mind.

"Ah, Ren… well…"

"Hm? What is it?" He asked, Yashiro sighed in relief, he sounded normal, or at least, not mad to Yashiro.

For the first time since the car trip, Yashiro looked out the window, and was surprised that they were already at the studio where Kyoko was working at.

"What? But I told her…" he muttered incredulously, he snuck a peak at Ren's speedometer and held his breath.

150, he was driving at 150 miles per hour, the lone car on a road. He sighed, Ren was most definitely pissed, and there was no doubt.

"Thank you Otsu-chan!" The radio host announced, "recently, there has been a rumor going around about Fuwa Shou's third year promo video anniversary. It has been said by several reliable sources that there will be a music video released for Fuwa Shou's newest single on the same day, as he's promo video was released. Rumor has it that Kyoko; whose origin is still a mystery and her last name still unknown to the public, will once again shine in his video. The rumor is not yet confirmed, however, we will soon receive new information regarding this subject…"

Yashiro chuckled, rumors will always be rumor, he turned off the radio as Ren parked the car and got off swiftly. It seems as though they were too early and Kyoko was not quite ready yet.

"Shall we wait?" Ren asked quietly, sending a shiver down Yashiro's spine.

"No, we are meeting her new manager as well, so we should go meet them in person." Ren sighed, he ran his fingers through his hair and tucked one of his hands into his jeans pocket, leading Yashiro to the elevator.

"Damn it Shoko!" A familiar voice muttered, causing a vein to pop in Ren's temple, his lip twitched once as he looked towards the direction of the sound.

"Just pick me up already! I didn't bring any money! I get it, I won't run off anymore so just… and I've only been gone for an hour anyways… okay okay, I understand, the director's angry, I know…I… yes… you… you did what?" Sensing danger, Yashiro dragged Ren into the elevator, where the actor was obviously fuming, though his expression showed nothing.

The elevator doors open and the two walked forward towards the studio, where two women stood on guard.

"Who are you looking for?" The brown haired one asked lazily, slurping on miso soup.

"I was hoping to see Kyoko-san." Ren replied, referring to Kyoko's stage name, the woman sighed.

"Why don't you wait here until-"

"Geez! Look up!" The other one hissed to her, annoyed, she looked up and found her face to face with Japan's most desirable bachelor, eyes widening, she apologized quickly and hurried inside to find Kyoko.

Much to Ren's and Yashiro's surprise, the person she led out was none other than Watanabe Yuuto, the man resembled very much like the one on the picture that Yashiro had searched up for him, except his hair was slightly longer.

"I'm really very sorry, but Kyo-chan is quite busy at the moment."

_Kyo-chan? _The two thought in harmony, much to Ren's own dismay, he felt rather angry, which he knew was quite childish.

"You are…?" The man asked the two, holding out a hand suggestively.

"Tsuruga Ren, pleased to meet you, this is my manager, Yashiro-san." Ren smiled dazzlingly at the man, who had a sign of recognition in his eyes.

"Ah! Yes, Kyo-chan mentioned you would pick the two of us up. She is nearly done, would you like to come in?"

"It's fine." Yashiro butted in quickly, _if Ren hears this guy say Kyo-chan one more time…_

"Very well, she should be out shortly." He peaked through the door behind him and beamed ecstatically, "Oi! Kyo-chan!"

Ren twitched involuntarily, and Yashiro put a comforting hand on the poor guy's shoulder, "Kyoko's here." He muttered quietly, so that only Ren could here. Understanding Yashiro's tone, Ren cleared his throat.

Kyoko pushed through the door, holding a small hand bag, she bowed to Ren and Yashiro, "I'm very sorry, Tsuruga-san, Yukihito-san!" she shouted, "I wasn't aware that you were already here!" She bowed again, her long hair swung back and forth.

"It's fine, Mogami-san," Ren smiled, "you are on time, we just arrived earlier than we thought we would, and we had the pleasure to meet Watanabe-san."

After much delay and reassurance on Ren's part, the four ended up on Ren's sports car, which felt much more crowded than usual.

"I have informed Yuuto-kun about the general picture of our roles." Kyoko hesitated as her demon sensor antenna popped out of the top of her head, which indicated Ren's irritation.

"He's going to kill mommy!" it shouted to the rest of the demons, all of whom hidden behind Kyoko to avoid the light Ren was emitting.

"The bright creature will destroy us!" One of them shouted, shielding itself from the light as smoke came out of it, "it burns!"

Yuuto on the other hand, was humming happily, "Kyo-chan's a really awesome actress, so I can't wait to see her in this movie!"

Sensing danger, Yashiro replied, "Since the Heel siblings have to manager, Ren will drop the two of us off soon before their transformation." He explained, "we will be handling any problems that may come through to these two that could reveal their true identity, as well as organizing job schedules, since this movie does have lots of interference with everything else. I will be assisting you for the first few weeks."

"Thank you, please take care of me." He tried to bow in his seat, which ended up like a rather awkward jerk of his head.

"Here's our stop. Good luck, Ren, Kyoko." Yashiro said solemnly, and then let out a very fan-girl like nudge to Ren, "seize the opportunity!" He giggled and then got off the car, leaving Ren sweat dropping.

"Take care of Kyo-chan, Ren-san!" Yuuto waved and jumped off with Yashiro, Ren and Kyoko watched the two retreat into the building, then they drove off, to LME, where they have an appointment with Jelly Woods.

Shoko picked up the pieces of paper that Shou had worked on last night, usually, his work was messy but well organized, there were normallymany things scratched out an replaced, this one on the other hand was rather clean.

_Victory_

_Spinning round and round_

_In my sheltered world_

_I remained unfound_

_Until the darkness unfurled_

_Just too many doubts_

_I was lead off my path_

_Believing that I_

_Had found my victory_

_But roses with thorns_

_They_

_Take me apart_

_Stabbed by the devil's_

_Horns_

_I lost my heart_

_So I_

_Kept on running without turning back_

_Not giving a doubt of everything I had lost_

_The further I run the more my heart turns_

_Black_

_I fell into the_

_The truth I tried to hide_

_My memories are_

_Taking over my head_

_But roses with thorns_

_They_

_Take me apart_

_Stabbed by the devil's_

_Horns_

_I lost my head_

_So I_

_Kept on running without turning back_

_Not giving a doubt of everything I had lost_

_The further I run the more my heart turns_

_Black_

_Now I_

_No longer hide the truth in my heart_

_Escaping all the roses thorns' and devils horns_

_Facing the locks that have been blown_

_Away_

_Can I still claim my_

_Victory?_

_I will bow down to_

_My own soul_

_So I_

_Take the path that shines in my heart_

_My way to toss the sorrows I created away_

_Mend the sins that tore my apart to my new_

_Future_

_My real victory_

_Victory_

Shoko sighed, _so the boy… it's too bad he doesn't know it yet, even though his subconscious already understands… if only he wasn't so stubborn._

She smiled, but then again, that's why she desires so much to make this boy accomplish his dreams, like this song, both his work, and love life.

She threw on a jacket and grabbed the envelope, _first stop, drop this off at LME, and then, pick up stupid Shou. _

Ren held his breath; she looked phenomenal, there was no other way to describe it. He himself have gotten into Cain Heel's general attire, and he knew that he should get into character soon, Kyoko on the other hand, was already full on Setsuka.

She had grown more curvier than before, even Fuwa Shou could not say that she had no breasts any more, she slimmed down even more than before for her modeling job, so her long legs seemed to go on forever. She wore a tight leather skirt, barely covering her bottom, Ren wasn't sure if he wanted her to bend down or not. Not with those clothes that Jelly Woods preferred so much to the black pants that Ren had forced Setsu to wear, which is much more to his own sanity than Cain Heel's, who probably would not have had a problem with it… he would just kill anyone who dared to look at her.

Her hair flared out in its usual style, except that this time, it was longer than usual, and instead of having pink streaks, they were instead blue. She wore a red strapless tank top that could be untied like a shoe by simply pulling the lace that was holding her breasts together. A short leather jacket with her sleeves rolled up was covering some of her skin along with boots that reached to the middle of her thighs.

Ren swallowed, this was torture, but at least he could change her closet once they were alone.

"Oh yes, Setsu-chan," Ten piped up, "I have prepared all your outfits in advance this time, please _do not_ change your closet this time." She glared at Ren, who smiled back politely; _just my luck… but perhaps the trench coat was too much_. He thought to himself, remembering the last movie they made together two years ago.

"You two will set out to Kyoto in about an hour to meet the director." Ten continued, "I guess I spent to long making her pretty, so you should set out now if you don't want to be late." She smiled apologetically and hurried the two out.

She grinned proudly at the two retreating figures, _the world will soon be blown away by the talents of these two, Tragic Marker III, do your best, Ren, Kyoko!_

Yashiro looked over, "Ah, Sawara-san gave you that?" He commented at the packages Yuuto was holding, after spending some time with him, Yashiro noticed that Yuuto was in fact… an idiot.

"Yup, he said it was something from some Fuwa Shou, and Kyo-chan left this one, she said it was from Beagles and to accept it, and this one is from a drama." He nodded at the two envelopes.

Eyes widening, Yashiro swallowed, _two at once? Ren's gonna blow!" _

"What are they for?" His voice quivered slightly at the memory of the demon lord who seemed to have taken a nap in Ren's body.

"An ending song and two music videos."

"But aren't they usually from the companies, why did Sawara-san tell you…"

"Well, they had the names on it, the company name was too long so I didn't want to say it." He grinned stupidly, causing Yashiro to imaginary face palm.

_Ren, you've got a bad start, my friend._

Not far away, just as the Heel siblings were boarding their plane, Shou was picked up by Shoko and was recording his newest single.

In the same studio, a certain silver haired man was showing his friend a text.

Parallel and unknown to one another, the three groups were preparing for an inevitable clash.

**My English isn't very good, I would be very grateful if anyone could help point out errors. Thank you.**


	11. Chapter 11 Setsuka's Revenge

**Thank you for the reviews!**

**Chapter 11 Setsuka's Revenge**

"Nii-san! Can't we go on a vacation together instead?" Setsuka Heel whined, holding on to her brother's arm, "work is booooring." She complained loudly, stifling a yawn.

Cain Heel patted his sister's head, "Setsu, we don't have a choice," he muttered quietly in English to her, "Be good, and I'll reward you whatever you want."

Setsuka flashed a mischievous grin at her elder brother, "Anything? Deal." She let go of her brother's arm and regained her composure, "but if you go back on our deal, you'll have to suffer some punishment from _me, _Nii-san." She said playfully, Cain flashed a quick smile at her, unnoticed by anyone else.

"What do I play anyway?" She asked him, since she didn't bother listening or reading the script that was sent to them.

Cain simply looked at her, "The cashier girl, same as before, memorize your lines." Setsu blew a stream of breath into his face, which smelled nice and alluring on Cain's part.

"Whatever, Nii-san, I'll do it." She said in a suggestive tone.

Cain cocked his head at her, dead fish eyes examining, "Not for just anyone, I hope."

Setsu scoffed at him, "If I did, I wouldn't be with you right now." She glanced behind them, catching the hooked and lust filled stares of men, her eyes met the ones of the most handsome one and she gave him a smile, which didn't reach her eyes. The boy's eyes widened and he swallowed hard; Setsu turned her sight back to Cain and smiled innocently in victory.

Then her gaze turned solemn, as though saying _I only care about you_, Cain looked meaningfully back at her, reciprocating.

_One bed? _Ren thought, bringing his memories back to when they first acted as the Heel siblings, _probably another misunderstanding._

Setsu seated on to the bed, and patted to the spot beside her, indicating for him to join her. Lazily, Cain obliged, who can resist a sister like her?

The moment he sat down, Setsu knocked him over and leaned her head against his chest, sighing. Swiftly, she took out her phone and snapped a picture of him.

"I like your surprised expression, Nii-san."

"I wasn't surprised."

"Really?" Setsu turned herself around and positioned her face over his; she gave his lips a quick little peck.

"How about now?" She giggled, snapping another picture.

"You're getting more and more out of control, Setsu." Cain sighed, Ren on the other hand, was becoming out of control.

"Only because _she's_ letting me." She pouted, "I wonder how far she'll let me go?" She added in a low whisper.

Cain grinned back at her, "Why don't you try?"

Finally having a reason to go wild, Setsuka gravitated towards his ear, "Are you sure you want me to? I have a reputation of driving people… crazy."

"So do I… crazy with fear, that is." Cain muttered, Setsuka pulled back, grinning lightly.

"I want to stay with you forever Nii-san, so don't you dare have anyone else." She pointed an accusing finger at him, pouting.

Cain flicked her on the forehead, Setsuka yelped in pain and covered her forehead.

"Idiot." He muttered simply, as though the conversation was at a close.

Regaining composure, Setsuka leered at him, "Yes that's right, everyone's too fearful of Nii-chan to get close to you, I'm still safe." She smirked at him, leaning back on to him chest.

_Too bad the same can't be said for you_, Cain thought sadly, or perhaps it was Ren instead, since Cain would never doubt his Setsuka.

"I'm going to take a shower." Cain announced, gesturing Setsuka to get off of him. Setsuka, on the other hand, just grabbed hold of him tighter.

"Can I join you?"

Ren's heart skipped a beat.

Never in his life have he ever-expected Kyoko to say anything of the sort to him, not even when she's in Setsuka mode. If it's Cain Heel, he will most likely agree, no doubt to it, but what the hell was he supposed to do?

If he gave in now and called for Kyoko, it would be his professionalism that succumbs.

If he agreed to her ludicrous suggestion, his mentality would suffer.

Either way, it was death. Now the question is: should he throw away his pride as an actor, or risk his place in Kyoko's heart?

He put his hand on Setsuka's head and ruffled her hair. Setsuka looked back up at her, her expression mixed with challenge and amusement.

"Do you know what time it is?" He whispered to her.

"Seven pm." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"That's right, and when did we last eat?"

Her eyes narrowed, "fine, you win this one." She scoffed before heading towards the kitchen, "but only because we're both hungry and your cooking is not edible."

He's Tsuruga Ren, how could he seriously let any of those things suffer?

Sighing, Cain headed towards the bathroom, sometimes, when Kyoko was much too into character, he felt as though he couldn't keep up. _Or maybe it's because it's her_. If it was with anyone else, he felt as though he could have accepted the offer with no hesitation. _The things you do to me. _

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash over him, smiling at the memory of when Kyoko first burst into his shower when she thought he had drowned.

He leaned against the glass, pondering to himself. True, the first time it seemed as though Kyoko had no reactions towards him, but when she was not in character she still blushed, seemed generally embarrassed towards him, and was sometimes even wooed. The second time when they had to act as the Heel siblings, Kyoko had changed more. She was hesitant around him, and sometimes, he could swear that he saw a sparkle, or a gleam of longing in her eyes during intimate moments. (This is three years later, the film; Tragic Marker is a movie with many parts. So during these years, two movies have been out, they are on the third at the moment.)

That was the time when they both had mutual feelings towards each other, even Ren could feel it, though he had resisted his feelings, tried to pull himself away from her, and could feel her doing the same.

Yet now, a year later, she's provoking him and teasing him as Setsuka as though it was nothing. _Does she like that manager?_ The green monster of envy rose in his chest, almost as powerful as his lion of love.

His thoughts were shattered when the door burst open, and the curtains opened abruptly.

"Nii-chan, you've been here for an hour and a half," Setsuka shouted over the sound of water splashing in a bored voice, and then she smiled, "did you need help getting out or something?" She said in a sly voice.

She looked at nothing but his eyes, Cain smiled, Ren, on the other hand, was trying hard to suppress the blood that was threatening to creep on to his face.

"I'm done cooking you know." She slid down the wall and closed his curtain. "After this movie is over, when will I see you again?" Her bored voice had a slight hint of longing. "I always think about you, not just me, I mean, yes, it's me… you understand." She stated quietly, her voice barely audible over the shower.

Ren suddenly felt a pang of realization. All this time, while he was in his own la-la land, thinking about Kyoko in dirty thoughts, thinking about how to suppress his urges, how to stop himself from jumping on her… She was into the act, and nothing else, she was able to portray the perfect Setsuka, much better than they had ever been the last two times because she was able to throw herself away into the role, something that he had neglected. She was perfectly comfortable with him the way she is because that is _Setsuka_, the real Setsuka. His Cain was stained, completely tarnished by Ren while she was improving. True, her second time portraying Setsuka was just as off as Ren's Cain but she picked it back up and was moving further and further away from him. He needed to get his act together, something that he should have done since the very beginning.

He squeeze his hand was shampoo and smeared it all over his head, he turned off the showerhead and started filling the bathtub.

"Get our bathing suits, Setsu, we don't want anyone to think that we're doing something incest, do we?" He smirked as he pulled the curtains further apart, finding Setsuka smirking back at him.

"Sure thing Nii-san, but, before that…" She leaned towards him and kissed his ear lobe gently, "welcome back." The Kyoko inside Setsuka sighed in relief, happy that her beloved sempai was once again resurrected from whatever that was happening.

She walked away and were back moments later holding Cain's swim trunks and her own very revealing bikini.

She tossed it at him and changed into her own. Cain was faster than her, as he was already naked. Minutes later, they sat opposite of each other in the bathtub.

She had on strapless bikini that was just simply too small for her, so some flesh hang out in *certain * places. Cain matched her red and black striped bikini with his own simple, black trunks. The two sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the echo of each other's breathing.

"I should have brought dinner in." Setsuka commented, only to gain a blank stare from Cain.

"If I eat now, I'll get fat." He said flatly, causing Setsuka to roll her eyes.

"Not _that_ excuse again, you teenage girl."

Cain let out some water and squeezed in some (_a lot) _of bubble bath, and allowed the water to fill. Soon, pink bubbles filled most of the tub.

Sighing at her brother's stupidity, she grabbed a handful and stuffed it on to his mouth, and shaped it into a beard.

"Santy, so what do I get this Christmas?" She asked sarcastically.

"I only award good girls," he replied, "however, I could help you with something… if you give me something to return."

Leering, Setsuka threw another handful of bubbles to him, this time, on his head. Smirking slightly, she added more bubbles on to his head, creating a tall tower. Reaching out of the tub, she grabbed her phone and snapped a photo.

"You're so – " She started, however, to her incredulity, Cain splashed bubbles all over her head, and removed some of them.

When he was done, Setsuka had devils horns on her head. Rolling her eyes, she leaned towards him and put her head on his bare chest.

"Nii-san, I can hear your heart like this." She whispered, pressing her ear down and closing her eyes, she sighed deeply, though her eyes held no amusement. Cain looked down at her, gaze dark. Ren, on the other hand, was simply dying.

"Setsu, what's wrong with you?" Cain asked.

Setsuka blinked her eyes darkly, "it's nothing." Deep in thought, she dug her nails into his flesh, causing him to flinch.

He sighed at her, and then stuffed pink foam all over her face.

"What?" She spluttered, spitting the bitter water out, she looked at him blankly and then her lips split into a chilling smile, "oh you asked for it."

She slipped out of the bathtub and disappeared behind the curtain, leaving a very confused Cain in the water. She returned later wearing her rather revealing and cute tank top with her black and pink underwear, she handed a towel to Cain and left the bathroom. Mystified, Cain followed her after changing into his own pajamas, which consisted of a pair of boxers and… really just boxers but Ren also put on a simple V-neck T-shirt.

He sat in front of the small coffee table and took a sip of the miso soup that Setsuka had just warmed. He pushed the rest of the food away from him and continued to sip the soup, very slowly and painfully.

A soft towel ruffled his hair; Setsu had proceeded to drying his messy, dripping black locks. It felt warm and comforting, he relaxed slightly and continued the miso soup. By the time that Setsuka was done, he had also finally finished the abnormally large bowl of soup.

He tried to rise but was pressed down as another scoop of soup landed in his bowl. Baffled, he looked up at her, who was still in her rather revealing outfit that Ren was sure she would have refused to wear a year ago.

"Drink up Nii-san, and you had better finish ev-ery-thing." She smiled angelically as she also set salted fish, omu-rice and hamburger in front of him, "of course, it _is_ optional." She twirled her phone in her hand and purposely allowed him to take a glance at the number on the screen.

"And what are you going to tell _him_?" He asked suspiciously.

Leering dangerously she leaned towards him slightly, "oh… maybe something about how you're mistreating me… etcetera etcetera…"

Wincing, Cain grabbed him chopsticks and started to chomp down the food. By the time he was finished with the hamburger and the second helping of miso soup, he lay down with his head on the table and hands in the air.

"I give… you win…" he sighed.

"Tsk, tsk, that won't do, I mean you've already lied to me so many times, Nii-san, what would he do if he knew, I wonder." She threw herself on the bed and smirked at the screen, she snapped a shot of him and set it quickly as her wallpaper.

Instinctively, Cain leaped up and pressed her below him, throwing her phone aside.

"You won't tell that father of ours anything will you now, Setsu?" He whispered quietly beside her ear,

Setsu stared back at him blankly for a few seconds before her lips curled into a smile, "what if I do?" She asked provocatively, earning herself a death glare.

"Well then," He leaned lower, "I'll just have to make sure you never get out of this room to tell a soul."

She raised an eyebrow at him, and the two began their stare competition.

Suddenly, she laughed loudly beneath him, "My, Nii-san, this sure brings back memories doesn't it?"

Bewildered, Cain raised an eyebrow back at her.

"So tell me, do you remember what happens next?" She smirked.


	12. Chapter 12 A Fool

**Chapter 11 - A Fool**

_Two years ago…_

"Eh? To… to your house? B… but To-, I mean sensei… is it really okay?"

"Geez, are you going to go back on your word? My lovely wife, or should I say… your mother," he chuckled, causing Kyoko to turn red with embarrassment, "want to see her 'son', or rather, she wants a daughter to dress up." He added in a lower voice.

"I… I would love to see you again and to meet… to meet sensei's wife." She muttered, still red, "it would be an honor." She added quietly.

"Well then, it's decided then, you will be meeting us next week, in our home." And he hangs up, leaving Kyoko hanging by the thread.

She sighed and scratched her head; she should at least bring souvenirs. However, she doesn't know what they like, and even if she does, they probably have it already; the Hizuris are awfully rich and famous in Kyoko's perspective. Stumped, Kyoko contacted her current manager.

"Excuse me, Sato-san, I would like to take my vacation break starting next week. If it's not too much trouble…"

"Ah, not at all, Kyoko, the president spoke to me directly." He chuckled wheezily, "Will I see you soon?" He added in a suggestive tone.

"Um," _Sato-san is so concerned about my career; he doesn't want me to be away too long to hurt my reputation! I have to work hard too!_ "Yes, I definitely will be back as soon as I can!" She shouted in a fired up voice, fist pumped and in a fighting pose.

"Ha?" The man spurted in surprise, "What…? Alright…" He then hang up without another word to Kyoko while he muttered to himself.

"Right now… a present… a present for sensei and his wife… right…" She scratched her hair with her hand in her desperation.

Then, it came to her.

Quickly, she took out her cell phone and dialed to her best friend…

Of course that never worked out and in the end she ended up with the last person she wanted to be with – Tsuruga Ren.

"Mogami-san…"

"Mogami-san!_"_

"MOGAMI-SAN!"

"Huh?" Kyoko tripped over at the sudden outburst, and was grabbed by the arm by Ren, "Oh, I'm sorry Tsuruga-san, I just drifted off, please forgive me!" She bowed.

"Ah, don't worry about it," he smiled warmly, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

_Ah, every time he asked that question, it translated into 'tell me what's wrong with you or else I'll turn you into nothingness with my smile attack'. _Sweat dropping, Kyoko decided perhaps it would be better to just tell him everything.

"Erm, sensei invited me over to meet his wife, but I don't know what I should bring to them." She murmured in embarrassment and smiling awkwardly, "What do you think Tsuruga-san?" She turned towards him, only to find his face unnaturally close to her own. Instantly, her face warmed up at the closeness.

_What? Emperor?_

"Ah, sorry, Mogami-san, it's kind of hot today so I wondered if I could fit in your shadow, it didn't really work." He smiled, _shit shit shit_.

Kyoko blinked at him.

_Ah, even Mogami-san wouldn't believe something this absurd!_ His smile remained genuine on the outside, but in actuality, he could feel his hair being ripped out piece by piece already.

"Oh! So that's how it is!" She slammed a fist in her palm with an expression of sudden realization. "Maybe if I walk like this…" She started walking on her toes, "Tsuruga-san would be able to fit?" She beamed at him politely inviting him to join her shadow.

"No… thank you, let's cross the road and walk in the shade of those trees instead." He murmured, trying to keep his shoulders from shaking and his face straight.

He failed horribly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Kyoko puffed out her cheeks while she emitted a dark aura as her eyes narrowed.

"Really… ha ha… I'm sorry Mogami-san…it's just that… no matter how much you try… ha ha …." After his painful explanation, which he never finished and gave up on, the two started on the topic in a more serious approach.

"What would you like to get them?" He asked, _though honestly, they'd like anything you get for them._

"I wanted to get them something they can only get here… in Japan" She frowned, a finger on her lower lip.

"Ah, I see." Ren swallowed silently, he must not give in to cuteness!

"But then… I thought that sensei would already have everything so…"

"Well, how about starting with what they like?"

Kyoko turned her head and looked at him thoughtfully, "Sensei likes food, and I don't know what sensei's wife would like." She muttered, sighing.

Without thinking, without sensing the complication that will ensue, purely out of habit, he blurted the answer out…

_One week later_

"Umaibo!" (Popular, cheap, Japanese snack.) The golden haired goddess held the rather large bag of snacks in her hands as though they were the most wonderful treasure. Her eyes had water droplets hanging from her eyelashes, and though she was drooling slightly, Kyoko can still find no words to describe her beauty.

"Kyoko! Sweetheart! You are too much! How did you know that I love these?" She squealed, holding Kyoko in a bear hug.

"Haha, Hizuri-san, really, it was nothing. And… a very important person helped me out." At this, Kuu flashed a wink at Julie, who smiled back mischievously.

"Is that so? But Kyoko, both of our last names are Hizuri, won't you find it confusing? I actually prefer to be called my actual name." She said kindly.

Kyoko quickly put up a resistance, "I can't do that… sensei is sensei and Hizuri-san is Hizuri-san… I…I"

"Actually," Julie flipped her shining golden hair, "calling my Hizuri-san makes me feel so old." She took out a mirror and admired her own reflection, hearts popping out of her eyes.

Hearing that, both Kuu and Kyoko sweat dropped.

"Al… alright, Julie." Kyoko reluctantly agreed while Kuu laughed on the sidelines.

"Well, Kyoko, I'm really sorry, but the both of us has surprise work." His facial expression twitched a little and Kyoko could just barely catch a few swearing words and 'boss', "So, do whatever you would like at home, the password for the TV is 4043 by the way." He smiled happily, before grabbing his and Julie's coat and departed

"Wai… wait! Sensei!"

_Slam!_

Kyoko sighed, she lowered her hand that was reaching out to them, and walked to the room where she was assigned.

It was a clean room painted completely white, it had no posters on the wall, just a single painting. A painting of a young girl with black hair in braids, she had startling amber eyes.

_So cute! I wonder who this is_.

The girl had angel wings on her back as well as a halo, but over the years, the painting had faded and it no longer had the freshness of a well-kept one.

Everything in the room seemed to be white; it was so clean that Kyoko had a hard time being comfortable.

Slowly, Kyoko made her way down the stairs, _maybe I should make dinner? But sensei did say that Hizuri-san loved making food…_

She settled down on the couch and opened the TV, she input the code, a black screen followed by a DVD screen.

_What? DVD? How do I switch it back?_

Baffled, Kyoko tried pressing several buttons.

_Whirl_

_Eh? I broke it?_ Confused and thoroughly frustrated, a demon and an angel appeared by her side.

"If sensei knew that you broke that expensive TV, you'll be kicked out for sure! Run! Run like the wind!" The demon whispered by her ear.

"No! Apologizing is the better option! Kyoko-chan must be willing to stand up to her actions, even if you are to be peeled."

_Yeah, it's better to run._

Just as she was ready to bolt, a picture of a young man appeared on the screen. He was sitting on the chair, blonde with blue eyes.

Eyes widening, Kyoko dropped back on to the sofa, unable to move.

_Tsu…_

"My dear mother Julie… I heard that I have made you worry this whole time."

_But it can't be, this guy clearly isn't Japanese!_ She thought as she stared into his captivating eyes.

"If possible, I would like to, not with a video like this, but to meet you, embrace you…"

_That physique, that face, that bone structure… _

"… and apologize, with all my heart… I want to apologize."

_Apologize? Mother? Hizuri… Kuon?_

"Not for not contacting you for five years…"

_Five years? Tsuruga-san started acting five years ago…_

"But for misunderstand you and father…"

_But it can't be… this man looks… just like Corn! It can't be!_

"For noticing for the first time only now, you patiently waited for me."

_No…_ she clutched her hand, realization dawned upon her, yet she can't accept it, the cruel reality.

"Killing the impulse to see me…"

_This isn't real…_

"And entirely…"

_I can't…_

"For my sake."

_I don't want to…_

"And yet I misunderstood that since there was no contact from you."

_All this time…_

"I was disappointed, and thought that…"

_Everyone…_

"I had been abandoned by you, or at least that's what I thought."

_Had already…_

"For my own protection, I selfishly left home…"

_Seen…_

"And I selfishly started acting another person."

_Known…_

"However…"

_Realized… _

"Even though I'm like that…"

_Everything…_

"You both…"

_And I…_

"Tucked me in and…"

_Was…_

"Protected me."

_Only…_

"With all my heart… I thank you."

_Just…_

"For your…"

_A…_

"Deep love."

_Tool._

_All this time, he must have laughed at the sidelines at me while I talked about Corn, all this time…_

_But, how could I be sure he's Corn?_

_It's just… a feeling._

_Are you done laughing at me yet? So I'm so pitiable that you will not correct me even when I'm wrong. Is it funny for you to watch me? You must have been hiding your laughter each and every time. _

Kyoko, who was so absorbed in hatred and embarrassment and her demons who were afloat did not realize the tape ending… nor the fact that a person was standing behind her for more than half of the tape.

"Wa! My little Kuon is so cute!" She squealed, dragging out the 'so'.

Startled, Kyoko jumped towards the squealing woman, "Ju… Julie? That is your son? Kuon?" _My last hope_.

"Yes, isn't he so cute? Do you want some pictures?"

"Ah, it's alright, so… where is he now?" _Please… anywhere but…_

"Tokyo! He's in a similar career path as you, perhaps you've worked with him before." _Well… maybe… just maybe he's not popular even with a face like that so…_

"Oh! And he's quite popular too!"

(Kyoko is in the process of being reduced to ashes.)

"Kyoko! Kyoko?"

_A few minutes later_

"What? You forgot to take the DVD out?" Kuu asked in a desperate whisper.

"Hehe, sorry honey!" She whispered back, grinning broadly, "but from what you tell me, our Kuon hasn't been honest with this little lady here, so why don't we help him a little?"

Kuu's lips twitched slightly, "that could hardly count as helping, it would be _way_ more romantic if Kuon tells his own desperate tale to her beneath the moonlight beside a river where the two of them are wearing Kimonos!"

Undisturbed by their giggle filled conversation, Kyoko stirred, "Um, sensei, Julie, I'm really sorry, it's just that your son looked like someone I know…" _He may be Tsuruga-san judging by that bone structure and muscle proportions there are no way he is Corn! Corn is a fairy prince, not some deceiving, horrible, trickster!_

Demons started swirling about around her as her plan for revenge started to form in her mind.

_Yes crush him from the inside out._

"Er, dear, do you feel cold?" Kuu muttered to Julie while shivering from the aura Kyoko was producing.

"Hm? Just a little, a little." She murmured back, leaning closing towards him.

Kyoko's vacation ended shortly after, she tried very hard to play a prank on Kuu, however, and she ended up failing miserably. Julie dragged her to shop for several hours (she was saved by Kuu), and of course, she decided to keep the secret for Tsuruga Ren (only because she might need to use it for blackmail reasons later on).

So that's how Kyoko found out about Ren's secret identity, she gave up on the plot for revenge as a favor to Ren, who she owes much to.

Obviously, she would be kidding herself if that were the full story. Nevertheless, in the next year, Ren was back on her 'good' list, though with an extra note of 'dangerous'.


	13. Chapter 13 - Surprise Visitor

**Chapter 13** **- Surprise Visitor**

"Nii-san, will kiss marks leave a scar if you suck for too long?" Setsuka whispered gently, talking more to herself than the man in front of her, who gazed at her with an amused expression, "Maybe it would if I suck so hard that the skin breaks… I wonder how your blood tastes…" She hissed, making sure her breaths reached his neck and ears.

Cain simply stared at her, "You are straddling me, Setsu." He said quietly, his voice warning.

Setsuka simply smiled and moved her hips further down, "Is that better?"

_It most definitely is not!_

He had eaten too much, and there she was, sitting on him, her weight is not the problem, but the way she was making his stomach turn over _is_ a big problem, if he does not calm down soon, he will surely spew everything on her, which is the last thing he wants!

"Tomorrow, Setsu, I don't feel too well today." Cain ordered, his eyes darker than ever.

Setsuka smirked a little darkly, "Gosh, getting soft here, Nii-san. I love you, I care about you, I'm _yours_, but I won't allow myself to be ordered around." She murmured dangerously, she threw a glance at him pouted, and left.

"I'm angry, so I'm leaving, don't follow me." She grabbed her long leather jacket from her trunk and tossed it on.

It was different than last time, she had clearly stated that she was 'angry', though Cain knew clearly that she was simply toying with him and had no such emotions, he still felt as though he had to follow.

He lifted himself from the bed and grabbed her wrist, "Wait," He muttered, "where are you going?"

Without turning around to throw so much of a glance at him, Setsuka pulled her wrist out and walked out the door, slamming it in his face.

Abruptly, Cain went after her, not bothering to throw on anything and braced the cold. He followed quietly, without saying anything, without disturbing her chilling beauty.

She entered the convenience store and bought a dozen eggs, and began walking back to the hotel with Cain close by.

Cain followed without complaint, but Ren felt an error signal blaring loudly against his conscience, something was wrong.

Just as he was pondering on what to do, he felt impact against his forehead, and dripping cold raw egg slimed down his face and on to his clothes. He twitched, but before he could act, another raw egg shattered against his chest. It was September, not exactly warm, especially after being attacked by frozen cold raw eggs. He swallowed and exhaled, and walked at a faster pace, however, Setsuka, who had seemingly planned everything, walked farther from him and aimed more raw eggs over her shoulder.

_Splash splash!_ She missed several but caught her target on his limbs as well as another one on his chest. Cain was now rigid from the cold and dripping with raw egg1.

Thinking that probably nothing can get worse from this point, Cain caught up to her and wrapped an arm around her.

He was wrong.

She smiled angelically up at him, and before he knew it, cracked an egg right on top of his head.

"Ah! I'm feeling so much better now, Nii-san, shall we go back?" She asked, throwing the empty carton aside.

"Yes." Cain replied, "Will you take a bath with me again?"

Setsu walked a little faster so that he can only see her back, "Maybe a shower this time."

_I agree_.

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko kneeled in a dogeza, "Lowly little me have done horrible things! Please allow me to commit seppuku! (Japanese warriors used to do this, it's basically cutting one's stomach open with a katana, a Japanese sword.)" She raised a Katana, who knows where she got it and held it ceremoniously in position.

"No! It's fine, it's only egg." Ren snatched the katana away from her and smiled in what he thought should be a reassuring way.

_Eep! He's mad at me!_

"No! It's not just an egg! I am so sorry if I smashed your pride! I am lowly and unworthy to do so! Please allow me to-"

"Stop." Ren commanded, Kyoko shut up at once, "I was acting, you were acting, do you think that I will be so unprofessional that I would be angry at my co-actress?" In the end, Ren had no powers to stop her self-destruction other than to result to her guilt-conscience.

Kyoko's lower lip quivered, "I AM SO SORRY TSURUGA-SAN! I really didn't think about that! No wonder you're angry with unworthy me!"

It took about half an hour to calm Kyoko down enough that she was willing to sheath her Katana and stand up; she wobbled slightly from kneeling so long but stood her ground.

They left soon after, Ren knew he would have to leave her alone for a while to calm down, and although he did not like it, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable.

"Takumi-kun, be good while I go warm your milk, okay?" Kyoko patted the little boy's head, smiling serenely, "and I'll have to leave for work soon, Moko san will take care of you, okay?"

The baby simply looked up at her, his hand twisted tightly around Kyoko's index finger, he seemed to be pleading to her not to go.

_That's right, I won't leave you, not like she does._ Her eyes grew dark, _but can I do it? Being a sister, a guardian, something that requires love?_

Ding-dong!

"Ah! Moko-san, coming!" She shouted happily, floating in the air.

She wrenched the door open and gave her friend a hug.

"Mo! What is it? It's not like we don't see each other… and you better leave for your job." Regardless of what's being said, she didn't resist as much as usual, "and, I don't like the new jobs that you took, why did you even take it? Anyway, it's not my problem but don't lose your temper."

Kyoko released her friend, "It's fine Moko-san, this time, it will be fine." She said solemnly, "but you worried about me! I'm so happy!" She jumped towards Kanae for another hug, which Kanae skillfully dodged and dashed into the apartment towards Takumi.

"By the way, please warm Takumi's milk now Moko-san! I have to leave! Bye!" She slammed the door shut and ran down the stairs towards her pretty new sports car, and drooled all over it.

"Hana-san is so pretty!" She hugged it lightly and got into the driver's seat and drove away.

"Ah! Kyoko-chan! It's a pleasure to meet the prodigy of Japan's acting world!" A short and chubby man hugged her and kissed her on both cheeks. He had an accent, perhaps Parisian.

"No, the pleasure is all mine Geler-san, I never thought that you would appoint a newbie like me." She waved it off, smiling gently; years after being in the acting world changes a way a person can treat others, though Kyoko's insides were fluttering.

"Well, modeling is not much different than acting, and since you're excelling in acting, I figured you would do the same for modeling." His facial expression suddenly dropped, "But I was wrong. Though an amateur, you can already do so well! It is most definitely my duty to ensure that you become an even better model! You were born for this, and I, Pierre Geler will become your creator!" He finished enthusiastically.

_C-creator? _

"Ah, yes, I'm looking forward to working with you too, Geler-san. So now, if you don't mind…"

_Ah well, Yuuto-kun did mention something like Pierre Geler often over reacts or something like that_.

She had a brief with the model manager and a meeting with her fellow male lead, the male lead, Teshi Akio, who was tall and beautiful, almost like a female.

_So beautiful!_

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kyoko, please take care of me Tenshi-san!" She bowed politely, trying hard to restrain herself from ogling at him.

"Tch, so this amateur is the replacement for _my _Hana-chan? How ridiculous!" He complained loudly. Then he glanced at Kyoko, as though he only realized that she was there, "though you are quite pretty, Kyoko is it? That's fine, we can meet tonight, however, you don't have nearly enough talent nor experience to work with me, so you might as well just get the hell out." He smirked at her bowing head and grabbed a lock of her hair, kissing it lightly.

_Eh? Hana-chan? That's the same name as my car!_

"Is that so, Tenshi-san?" Kyoko murmured lightly, "then make sure to give me plenty of experience while we're at it." She smiled at him brightly, pulling her lock out of his grasp. She stalked away from him and into the change room.

_How could he just look down on people like that? Idiot! Just like that… Ugh, I don't even want to think about that guy!_

"Kyoko-san, I did not think you would take this photo shoot." The make-up artist laughed casually.

"Eh?"

Seeing her confused expression, the man smiled, "well, this is a rather explicit photo shoot, but, worry not, everyone who works with Pierre ends up famous in the modeling world!" He stated dramatically, "Do your best!" he patted Kyoko on the shoulder and proceeded to applying make-up.

_Ex… explicit?_

"Sorry to bother you, but what do you mean by explicit, Make-Up Artist-san?" Kyoko asked at the next opportunity when his hands were not on her face.

"Hm? So you don't know? It's essential for a model to be able to act out everything, I thought you would know that as an actress." He smiled genuinely, "However, if it was so normal, Hana-san would have been able to take the job very easily."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Ahaha, enough talking, or else I'll never finish my job!"

_Exposing my body? I can only ever do that as Natsu though…_

"Yes, please listen carefully, I don't have time to finish the whole shoot with you but this man here," Geler pointed at a middle aged man with a clean moustache and short, clean cut hair, "will stay. The main theme for this line of product, as I am quite sure you all know, is _desire_. Now let me warn you, all my previous models have tried to seduce everyone either with their eyes or their body. However, that is not your job! The desire between two pure lovers is not that of some messed up drama middle aged women watch, I expect a lot from you!" He waved himself away and gave everyone one last thumbs up before leaving after the long and very tiring speech on Kyoko's part.

"Now, you may refer to me as X." The middle aged man said, "Because it is easy and simple to remember. I am a photographer; I will take these pictures that you guys will formulate together." He gave everyone a cold stare before smiling to break the ice, "Now, Tenshi-san, I am sure you know how dissatisfied I am with your solo performance. Pierre is willing to give you a second chance in our next shoot, but I am not so forgiving! If you mess up the solo shoot again, you will be replaced!"

Surprised, Kyoko glanced at Tenshi, who was red with embarrassment.

"And Kyoko-san, we will work on your solo shoot after the pairing, which I think will take more than today considering your abilities," he rolled his eyes at them, "work hard." He added in a sarcastic tone, and he stalked away, leaving the two fuming with rage.

"Damn! Who the hell does he think he is? Joking around with me!" Tenshi swore loudly in words that Kyoko did not quite understand before turning on her, "you'd better not mess up! Amateur!"

However, Kyoko had already walked away, deep in thought.

_Deep in love… deep in love… whom should I use? Natsu? No, her love is not pure, it isn't even love! Setsu? That's only for one person, and I wouldn't exactly call that pure anyways… What about Fumino? No, her love was for money… I'm running out of characters, all the characters that I play that have an inkling of love are not the kind that Geler or X wants! _

"But Kyoko, you're forgetting one person…" The angel from her right whispered in her ear, "young Kyoko… do not forget young Kyoko… and her love for Shotaro!"

_I can't use her! I can't even think about Shotaro, that's ridiculous! I'll just try Natsu first…_

"Lean closer towards Tenshi-san's chest Kyoko and look into his eyes. Tenshi, you look back at her and hold a strand of her hair!" Natsu obliged happily, smiling gently into Tenshi's eyes, _become mine, and mine alone, never look at the eyes of another again! Fall under my spell, yearn for me!_

Tenshi's eyes widened at the girl's expression, _is she really the same person?_ He held her closer and swallowed hard…

"Stop! What are you two doing?" X shouted, "Tenshi, you look like a school boy longing for your pretty homeroom teacher! And Kyoko, you fell exactly into the hole that Geler told you _not_ to. Act like a pure, innocent lady in love, not a seductress!"

"Tch!" Tenshi sneered, recovering from Natsu's magic.

"Sorry!" Kyoko bowed her head slightly.

"Again, again!"

_Fumino, try Fumino, the thing in front of me… is money!_

"I love you…" the girl whispered gently into the man's face, her eyes shining brightly. _Yes! There's nothing I love more than money! Give me everything! All of you! I want more! Give me more of, nothing is better than the smell of freshly printed bills! _

From Tenshi's view:

_She looks like she's going to eat me! Shit!_

"Stop! Again, Kyoko-san, what's with that expression? It's _love_, yes, but you look like you're going to eat him! And Tenshi-san, why are you hiding from her? Lead her on! You're the more experienced one!"

_Setsu, I didn't want to do this, but you're my last resort! Please!_

"Nii-chan, so where are we going tonight?" Her speech was slurred and she smiled angelically, though her eyes indicated something else.

Tenshi's eyeballs fell out and rolled on the floor as he smiled back, drooling.

"Stop stop stop! That's enough for today! You guys don't understand at all! Sure, Kyoko-san, that was definitely _love_, but just what kind of love are you _aiming_ for?" He gave her a disgusted look, "And geez Tenshi-san, can you stop acting like a schoolboy? That was just terrible, but it was expected from your first try, after all, no model that Pierre chose could do this in one run. So now, like the contract says, you will live together for the next month in a designated apartment to get to know each other better. I don't care what you do, even if you actually do have to fall in love with each other, just do it!" He sighed, "my assistant will explain to you the details."

"Wai-wait please! What's this about living together?" Kyoko asked desperately, anxious.

"Eh? Didn't you read the contract?" Tenshi looked at her incredulously, "this is why Hana-san didn't accept the job, if we don't co-operate well, we will have to live each other for a month! It won't do anything weird on work, but it is a burden… and after all Hana-san is pregnant…"

_What does Hana-san have to do with anything? This guy is obviously interested in her!_

"I suppose noobs aren't used to things like this yet so you might as well back out." He waved her away, leering.

"What do you mean? Tenshi-senpai? Amateurs exist to become pros, so I obviously won't be backing out!" She smiled, "Not if it is something this interesting…" She smirked at him and switched her weight to her right foot, with a hand on her hip.

_Shoot, I let Natsu out by accident!_

"Ah well, see you soon, Tenshi-san!" Kyoko bowed and stepped back into her change room.

_That was close, because I switched so many times during the shoot I unconsciously brought out Natsu when I didn't want to._

_It's good that they plan to shoot all of Cain Heel's acts next month, lucky… but Setsu has a part next week… I have to do it without being found out!_

"Mogami-san, how was your photo shoot?"

"A… ah, it was fine." Kyoko lied, hoping with all her heart that he wouldn't pick up the lie through the phone.

Silence engulfed the other end, "Tsu… Tsuruga-san, is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong, it's just that I'm a little heartbroken that you would still lie to me." He stated quietly, after years of understanding this girl, he has finally found out her true weakness… guilt.

"Sorry Tsuruga-san, it's not really lying, it's just my job," she took a deep breath, "I'm really sorry, it's all because of my carelessness, I didn't read the contract properly and I'm not a good model so I'm supposed to live with Tenshi-san for a month to model the part properly!" She said quickly and loudly, hoping that he would be less angry, or at least, enough to not tear her apart.

"Tenshi? Tenshi Akio? Oh, that's fine, it's not your fault, just be more careful next time." Kyoko heard some snickering that sounded like Yashiro and a clearing of throat. Baffled by this reaction, Kyoko quickly thanked him and stored her remaining clothes into the closet.

The apartment that was offered was not large; it had only one bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom. Worse of all, she must share the limited space with a man whom she had met just barely eight hours ago.

"Yo," a voice said, "already here? Diligent, aren't we?" He had a bored, drawling voice, he stepped over to Kyoko's side, "I take up your challenge, but let me tell you this, I've only ever loved one person, and trust me, it won't ever be you." He stated confidently.

"So, you've only dated one girl in your life?" Kyoko asked, honestly surprised.

"Ha! No way! I've dated countless girls!"

_Just another player. _Kyoko sighed.

"So, what do you look for in a person? Tenshi-san?" She forced a smile on her face and looked at him with admiring eyes.

"Hmm, I suppose… someone who is both mysterious but clear, innocent but wicked, skeptical but trusting, loving but hateful… yes, someone like that." He pointed a finger at her, "why, you want to try?" He's smile was angelic but his eyes showed challenge.

"I like that smile on your face." He added to Kyoko, who was smiling at him with a sure expression.

"Definitely, Tenshi-san, I won't disappoint, I _am_ an actress after all." She wasn't quite sure why, but perhaps it was because of his personality, Kyoko, for the first time, did not feel like being the pushover she was.

"Well then, I must depart now for another job, see you tonight, _my sweet honey_." He blew her a kiss and a wink. Kyoko shivered, _he really is like a girl_.

_Right, no time for this, my next job, and I can drop by to see Takumi-kun, and then… that guy…_

Her eyes flamed up, and her whole body switched from shivering in disgust to hate as she thought about her so called childhood friend.

"Honestly, I understand that you couldn't love her before because she was a high school girl, but what about _now_? She's a legitimate _adult_, she can get _married_, why are you still _hesitating_?"

Ren sighed, "I don't want to repeat myself again, I won't deny any feelings for her, but it will fade away eventually, so there's no point to-"

"No point? No point for love? Wait until the President hear you say that… ah well, she is living with Tenshi Akio, aren't you worried?" He stifled laughter, _too bad it's only Tenshi Akio, if it was anyone else…_

"You know perfectly well." He smiled slightly at Yashiro "You met him before on our last modeling project, you know him as well as I do."

"Haha, I sure do! Honestly, no one more conceited than he is? Well, maybe one person… but who would have thought he challenged you to a modeling contest? Hilarious!"

"Ah well, I'm glad you like him, I plan to pay a visit to Mogami-san tonight, want to come along?"

Yashiro frowned, "Kyoko-chan? She would be at that apartment with Tenshi-kun, wouldn't she?"

"Yes," he nodded, "I should deliver something to her, she left it in Cain's possession."

Yashiro sniggered, "I look forward to it."

"Okami-san, Taishou, I'm really sorry for not visiting yet, it's just work is piling up, I promise I'll visit next weekend! Oh? Is that so? Well, when you get back then! Have a lovely trip!" Kyoko snapped her cellphone close and pouted, she really missed Okami-san and Taishou.

"Sorry to keep you visiting, Kyoko-san." The man smiled at her, though it was one that was known well in this world of show biz, cold, frozen-cold.

"I'm very sorry, director, it's because of me that-" Kyoko bowed, she wasn't really sorry, not really, this drama that she was supposed to play in with Shou. She wasn't sorry at all actually, she was glad that she got away, even though Chiori ended up taking her place.

"Please don't worry, I only wish that you could sing the theme song for us, Amamiya-san was a great substitute, though we _did_ have to change the character because of the switch. Of course, it's not _entirely_ your fault… anyways, do you agree to my suggestion?" Kyoko winced on the inside; this director was obviously pressuring her into making this theme for him. She has no choice, more over; it is a duet with Fuwa Shou!

"Now, I understand that you do not sing much, and we do not expect you to do anything live, but under the influence of Fuwa-san, I hope you two can do a good job, are you interested?"

"Yes, this sounds like a great opportunity, I always wanted to try singing!" This was a lie; of course, she would not want to sing with that failure of a man even if it meant for her to stay in the deepest pits of hell, but, her few years in show-biz have gained her enough experience to act like the way she does, rather than that girl who had started acting for revenge… she has a higher objective now.

The director clapped his fat, beefy hands together, "That's great! I will inform Fuwa-san's manager at once!"

He walked away, leaving Kyoko alone in the middle of the set, where she was the center of attention for everyone.

"Hey! That's Kyoko, isn't it? I heard that she's been having plastic surgeries since she debuted! Have you seen her pictures from before? So ugly!" A girl whispered audibly to her friend, pointing and giving Kyoko dirty looks openly.

"Yes, I know! I heard that she sleeps around, that's why she's so popular now." Her friend responded.

"And guess what? She's a lesbian; she's never been seen with a proper man. She's trying to get on the better side of Tsuruga Ren lately too! What a slut!" She nodded fervently, agreeing immediately.

_If I were a lesbian, why would I go after Tsuruga-san? And… Tsuruga-san won't ever consider me as a choice anyways…_

Kyoko ignored all of this with a calm smile plastered on her face, out of the corner of her eye; she saw a familiar figure moving towards the girls, a figure with blonde hair to be exact.

"Shut up! Go away!" He waved them away at once; the two blushing girls moved away, both taken by the man's beauty and his harsh words.

Twitching, Kyoko attempted to run, but ended up in a speed walk, with the man following close by.

"Hey! Wait up Kyoko!" In the end, she could not dodge the man's long strides and was caught. Her demons floated away at the sense of his touch, encircling him.

"How can I help you? Fuwa-san?" She asked in a strained voice, trying her best to keep her expression from the onlookers.

Shou swallowed, ever since their last meeting together, his heart could not stop beating for her, her thoughts cannot help but to wander towards her, even his insults, which were his best weapon, stood in his throat with no where to go.

"I, well, huh, so… we're singing together right? You'd better not be too awful!" Shou spluttered, he knew very well that Kyoko was not bad singing, she was good, in fact, she was the one that aspired him to become a musician. Shou, who had taken violin lessons with Kyoko knew how good her ears were, and her voice… if she had chosen to be a singer instead with her looks now, perhaps he would not have treated her so harshly in the past. Yes, he knew very well, Mogami Kyoko was abnormal, she was no normal human being, her talents were beyond Shou's imagination, and as her childhood friend, he knew very well that he had done well to conceal them.

"Yes, please take care of me." She spat through her teeth, bowing to him and turning quickly to escape.

Unfortunately for Shou, he was back on set, and therefore had no choice but to let Kyoko escape his grasp.

Quite frankly, he knew that his childhood friend was gifted, able to do anything if she set her mind to it, if he had not overshadowed her, if her past had not cost her emotions to turn inside out and drive her crazy…

Nevertheless, what they do, what _he _does, they will never be able to take Kyoko away from him… he had solely believed that for the past thirteen years, can he keep on going? Does he really have no doubts? He can't be sure anymore.

"Takumi-kun! Did you have fun with Moko-san this morning? I bet you did! Moko-san is so beautiful, like a shining gem!" She hugged her little brother tight spinning him round and round as she danced across the President's office.

"I see you've been working hard on that dance! Mogami-kun!"

Stopping abruptly, Kyoko bowed with the baby still in her arms, "Sorry President," she mumbled, "I forgot myself."

"There is no need to apologize! Forgetting yourself is good! Falling in love is good! Or you could stay in Love Me forever! So tell me, how have your love life been recently? Do you like Tenshi-kun? He's definitely a gem in the modeling industry, a model since childhood. How about Ryuu-kun? Earnest, bright, hardworking… he has too many good points, or maybe Kijima-kun? I heard you guys have been in contact through email since you got back." He nodded and then he cocked his head to one side, "Unless, it's Ren? The girlfriend of the number one bachelor who is seemingly gay since he entered show biz is definitely a good title too." He scratched his chin, "Recently you have much work with Fuwa-kun? You are setting your eyes on him?" His eyes turned dark, "Definitely, having the cool, popular or as they say now a days 'legendary' singer wrapped around your finger is good too…" He smiled brightly again, "so have you decided? Unless you are deciding to never graduate? Even Amamiya-kun ended up getting a boyfriend."

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Kyoko grinned up at the President, "I really like Takumi-kun." She tried, hoping the President would let her off with all her heart.

"But that's incest! Pedophile like behavior!" The President shouted, "but, it does have a good ring to it, Kyoko, who is believed to be a good mannered, prodigy in acting, a pedophile with complex feelings towards her own brother!"

"No… President… I-"

"Don't worry about it Mogami-kun, you still have that trump card of yours, Yuuto-kun, I'm sure he will be fine with you." He waved it off, having fun with teasing her.

"With that saying though, your father contacted me, he's wishes are as follows, 'Please take care of your twin brother on his visit to Japan', what do you say?"

"Eh? Kyou-nii?" Kyoko shouted in surprise, her eyes wide.

"Ah, I forgot that you guys already met on your little trip, so, what is he like? And there I was, trying to scare you." He sighed in disappointment.

"Um, Kyou-nii is… very… enthusiastic…" Kyoko finished lamely.

Takarada smiled, "Is that so? I was told that he was a sister crazy maniac who had to be restrained in the kingdom so not to kidnap his twin little sister whom he stalks through a network." He finished, still smiling politely.

Kyoko sweat dropped, even if it was the President, she didn't expect him to know that much. "Well, basically…"

"And incidentally, I received a letter, perhaps not something too great but I think you should see…"

Curious, Kyoko received the letter from his hands.

Opening it, she frowned.

LeAve yOu diSgraCE

anD doN't ComE BacK

"This is for me?" Kyoko waved it in Takarada's direction, he nodded solemnly.

"Well, I received several more, but I didn't feel the need to give all of them to you. It's just to be careful, try not to go out alone, you have a manager, you are considered a big shot now, don't hesitate to be more spoiled."

"Thanks for the concern President, but this doesn't bother me at all!" She chirped happily, that's right, she's had more than her fair share of threats from school when she was young because of a certain someone. "I've had my shoes ripped apart, shoe locker contaminated by tarantulas, my uniform burnt by fire, my desk infested by maggots and rats, my bento filled with diarrhea drugs and hair singed. This is nothing." She laughed as though it was nothing while Takarada's mouth fell open in amazement and horror.

"I… I see…" he managed to stammer out before locating his jaw back on to the rest of his face, he cleared his throat and quickly regained composures, "Well, then, where will your brother stay if you're going to live with Tenshi-kun?"

Kyoko put her finger on her chin "he can stay in my apartment." She decided, smiling as Takumi reached his hand out to grab her nose.

"Haha, stop that Takumi-kun!" she laughed smiling down at the child. There was an inkling of sadness that traced her eyes as she brushed the baby's cheek with her fingers.

"You know, Takumi-kun really likes you, but he really hates Ren." He chuckled merrily, "whenever you come to visit him, he's like this, but when it's Ren, he cries the whole time. Which is weird, considering how nice he was with Ren when they first met. Babies must be able to see through souls." Kyoko secretly agreed, her teasing, emperor of the night senpai was definitely not a good candidate to care for a baby, but it baffled her nonetheless.

"Also, Mogami-kun, Julie called, she misses you, she also said something about dying in a week or something like that."

"EHHH?! Why didn't you say something earlier! I have to call Julie at once!" She screamed at the top of her lungs while pulling out her cell phone.

"No no no, you'll understand soon enough…" Takarada waved her phone away, rolling his eyes at Julie. "Run along now, Mogami-kun, your last job of the day." He turned his chair around as he said that, so that his voice trailed away.

Nodding, Kyoko placed Takumi back into his crib and hugged him gently as a sign of goodbye.

Takumi, who realized what she was trying to do started wailing immediately, but Kyoko, who was deep in thought, walked away without so much as a glance at him.

_What… should I do? ... Nii-san?_


	14. Chapter 14 Snake Prey

**Chapter 14**

"My name is Watanabe Yuuto, this is my charge, Kyoko, we look forward in working with you!" Yuuto bowed at the pretty woman in front of him, who happened to be Shoko Aki.

The woman bowed back, "Thank you so much in accepting the offer, please take care of us." She bowed back, forcing Shou to bow with her by placing her hand on his neck and forcing him down.

Kyoko sniggered at his pitiful form, her demons swirled around her, protecting her from his invading gaze.

"Did you listen to the recording I sent you?" Shou asked arrogantly, tossing a glance at Kyoko, and reverted his gaze back to Yuuto, scanning him up and down.

"Yes, I did." _Though I'd rather much not want to, it was so arrogant!_ She thought, remembering the lyrics, _he's obviously trying to show off how successful he is, Victory or what not._

"What did you think of it?" He asked as if it was a throw away question of no real importance.

Not impressed, Kyoko shrugged like Ren had shown her that time, not looking at him.

Immediately, Shou's face twisted in rage as he pointed one accusing finger at her, "What? You dare to insult my masterpiece? You lowly actress! Honestly actors are only for those with no talent, having a face that's only a _little_ bit better than the general and thinking that they are all that, like that Tsuruga Ren!" He steamed off, his cheeks puffing out, "And in some cases," he smirked at her, "not even a pretty face."

"Hah? You take that back! Just because you can hum a couple of tunes… who do you think you are? You would do well even with 0.0000001% of Tsuruga-san's talent!"

"How dare you?..."

And they went on for half an hour.

"Hahaha, you guys are really like a couple in love!" Yuuto laughed pointing at the pair of them.

That shut them both up.

"NO! WE ARE NOT!" The two shouted back at him in unison, Kyoko's demons rivaling Shou's flame.

"Alright!" He put his hands in front of him, and whispered to Shoko, "But they really are."

"SHUT UP!/ARE NOT!"

"Anyways, it really is quite simply, and Asami-san will of course be directing you." Shoko rubbed her temple; they were really impossible, just impossible.

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Asami clapped her hands loudly to grab their attention, "as you know, Fuwa-san himself wrote up most of the script for this. The scenes are purely between the two of you, there are no one else. I presume that you have read the script and are ready to begin filming scene one as soon as possible." She nodded at the two of them, "Good luck, I do not wish to say too much, since I have already seen the chemistry between the two of you."

Kyoko braced herself, the script was simple, but to act it out with Shou would be impossible.

_That's the jest of it, however, because this is a music video, it requires much improvising and communicates through expressions, which is essential._ Kyoko thought, _but to act with that failure of a human being, impossible! _

_I also need to drop by Tsuruga-san's house today… _her face twitched horribly, _I wonder if he will forgive me, after what Setsu did for her revenge…_

"Kyoko-chan, we need you on the set in ten!"

"Hai!"

Kyoko was wearing the uniform of a middle school girl, a sailor suit, Shou matched her with an all black boys' uniform.

"So the beginning scene, the two walk calmly through a path in the forest. Show affection for each other. Kyoko-chan, I want you to show friendship for Shou, but Shou, you must show love for her. I will let you make up the little details yourselves, portray this well. This scene lasts for ten seconds." Asami ordered strictly, "Take one!"

Kyoko smiled at him and brushed her long brown wig back behind her ears while Shou admired her every movement.

The wind caught her hair and blew it back; Shou gently caressed it and placed it behind her ear again.

Kyoko bowed her head slightly in gratitude…

"Cut! No, I don't see it, Kyoko, I don't see it in your eyes, I don't see the affection that you would have for a close friend. No close friends would _bow their heads to each other!_ And Shou, you look like a robot, remember, you are supposedly a student in middle school _in love_ with your best friend. Kyoko-chan, you are more skilled in acting, so I want you to lead him, I appointed you for this job since I heard that you could lead other actors. I don't see it. Again!"

Asami was certainly straight to the point, she refused to hear apologies and directed the scene over and over again without mercy, she did not blackmail them with things like switching actors or anything of the sort, but even she knew when her actors were not in the mood.

"Take fifteen. Reorder yourselves, Kyoko, you are an actress, _surely_ you have some back up plan, right? Just act as someone else if you cannot get into this role." Asami smiled mischievously.

Kyoko jolted, _she knows! She knows my feelings towards Shotaro!_

Definitely, she does know one character whose feelings can translate into what Asami wants. That person was… herself! All she needs to do is think that Shotaro is Kanae, and that was the difficult part. Doesn't matter what, she cannot seem to be able to put Kanae's magnificent face on Shotaro's stinking body.

"_This is a job, we are professional actors._" Ren's voice popped into her mind. _That's right_, she needs to try.

"Take twenty!"

Kyoko smiled up at him, showing her teeth and grabbed his arm, she pointed to a direction on the set and dragged him to see. Shou was caught off guard by her cute, friendly expression. He swallowed hard. Confused, he allowed himself to be dragged off by her enthusiasm. While she pointed and smiled, he stared deeply in to her eyes. Her deep, blazing amber eyes, how could he forget? He felt lost in time; back to when she was in his control, back to when they were still children, back to when he was still lost in her magic.

Her magic to always capture him with every move, every glance, and him never swaying away from her side.

Since when did it change? He could not remember, and at the moment, he did not care.

Asami's mouth dropped open, but her mouth is not the only. Shou's eyes held that of pure innocence and gentleness, as though the person who he was infatuated with will break at any moment. Kyoko, on the other hand was completely oblivious to her friend's obsession.

"Cut!" Asami shouted, finally smiling at the pair. Kyoko sighed in relief while Shou's eyes darkened as the magic spell broke apart.

The next part is a solo by Kyoko-chan under a different set; she plays the violin under sakura petals. The scene went well as Kyoko was quite good at the violin; she played thinking about Kanae, a sincere expression on her otherwise blank face.

Shou watched her from not far away, his expression once again falling into the pure innocence and gentleness that had been long lost to his range of emotions. A warm fuzzy feeling spread across his chest, he felt weak in the knees. He held his breath as she played, enchanted by her swaying body and warm eyes.

Kyoko was then dismissed, they will continue one week later as Shou's job leaves no more space this week.

Shou was left speechless for the rest of the day.

They had been like that, right?

But they changed, so it cannot return, right?

So… why did it feel so right?

He's falling again, under the magic he is trying to avoid.

"Tsuruga-san, so sorry to bother you this late…but, I have some problems with my recent work." Kyoko murmured, still embarrassed over what happened.

"I see," Ren nodded, "will you explain?"

"Hai," she said more firmly, "desire, he wishes us to act out desire. But, I don't understand what he meant. He said, 'pure desire', 'innocent desire' for one's heart…' I can't comprehend."

Ren was well aware of the work she was set to do with Tenshi Akio, it was something he was rather not meddle with, yet how could he object her after being asked with such an expression?

Ren's eyes darkened, of course she wouldn't, how could someone who feels no love understand such an emotion? He sighed and stood up.

"Kyoko, is anything you want more than anything else in the whole wide world?" He asked quietly.

_Yes, to kill Shotaro._

"No, nothing in particular."

"I see…" He cocked his head, "then what about a visit to fairy land and visit a fairy prince, then become a fairy princess and live in the world of fairies forever?" He looked at her face and knew that he had struck gold.

"Now imagine that Tenshi-san's face is your ticket to fairy land." He smirked; she was too easy to fool. Her eyes had stars in them and her cheeks flushed red, drool even rolled out from the corner of her mouth.

_That's pretty good for now; she only needs time to dim that expression a bit. _He sniggered; _she looks like she's going to eat him!_

"Ah, you're back." Tenshi muttered, wearing nothing except his boxers, _this will definitely make you fall_.

"Ah! Tenshi-kun!"

_Kun? What? Why is she looking at me like this?_

Her sparkly smile widened when she saw his face.

Sensing danger, Tenshi started to dodge her.

It took three hours of chasing and pain on Tenshi's side that the two finally calmed down.

"Geez, I understand that you're working hard and all, but you know, mind you leave that for the set instead of here, you know I've got work too!" He complained.

"I'm so sorry, Tenshi-san!"

_Whatever happened to Tenshi-kun?_ He thought irritably.

"Akio's fine." He muttered, embarrassed, "Kyoko-chan, so you know Tsuruga Ren?"

Kyoko paused, "Yes, he is a great senpai and he is coming to visit today to discuss some matters with me." _About how we are going to meet up as the Heel siblings that is.._

Right on cue, the doorbell rang, but it wasn't Kyoko who had raced to open the door…

"REN-KUN! It's been too long, I miss you so much!" Tenshi Akio…

_Tenshi-kun…_

_Akio-kun…_

_The ever famous Tenshi Akio is…_

"Gay, yup, I'm homosexual." Tenshi smiled and held up his index finger and pointed at Ren, "because of him!"

"B..but Akio-kun, you said that you dated many girls before…" Kyoko said, shocked.

"Aha, that's true, but then I realized no girl can be as good looking as him, so then I thought, what's the point of girls if they can't even look as good as a man?"

Kyoko was definitely not biased towards homosexuals, but she does not know what disturbs her more, Akio, _the_ Tenshi Akio, who stole the spot light in the modeling world from the most famous models in Japan, is homosexual but fools around, or the fact that the person who made him so was Tsuruga Ren.

_Unless… Tsuruga-san_… Kyoko threw Ren a look of disbelief, Ren quickly raised both of his hands and shook his head vigorously, distancing himself from Tenshi.

"Well, Ren-kun and I go way back, it was love at first sight for me," Kyoko could see hearts growing out from his eyes, "that's why, it's impossible for you." He scoffed.

Kyoko twitched slightly and a single demon flew out of her, _I'll prove you wrong…_

Ren saw the expression on her face, and smiled, exasperated, _oh well, you dig your own graves, Akio._

"Anyways, Mogami-san, the matter at hand… so I will pick you up on the acquired date, please be in full costume despite the circumstances." He said, professional and short, and Kyoko understood every word.

She nodded solemnly, "I understand, Tsuruga-san, I will do my best." She swallowed, _dressing up as Setsu and sneaking out without Akio-kun noticing is difficult…_

"So that's the last name of the enigmatic Kyoko-chan, huh?"

_Oops_, Ren thought.

"Ah, yes." Kyoko nodded, bowing slightly.

"Don't make those faces, you two, I'm not going to sell you out so easily." He winked, Kyoko was deeply moved, _that's right; Akio-kun is like a sister, just like Moko-san and Amamiya-san!_

"Thank you so much!" Her eyes glittered again, _I can do all the things I do with Moko-san with him! How wonderful!_

"Um… you're looking at me like food again…" Akio edged away slightly and clung on to Ren, "save me, Ren-kun~"

The corner of Ren's lips twitched, _must not be violent… must not be violent… must not be violent…_

"Look at her! She's _drooling!_ _Ren-kun~_"

_Ah, too late_.

Ren, grinned at him and stood up, he gently held his chin with one hand and smiled dangerously, "you look just like a girl."

Kyoko shivered… from the cold… the frozen, frozen, cold.

Akio also shivered… from love… beautiful, wonderful, love.

He then walked to the door, "thank you for your time," he bowed, and smiled at Kyoko, "let Natsu loose once in a while."

"Hai!" Kyoko bowed, she just got a new set of orders from the emperor of the night, and hell, she was going to obey them.

"Ren-kun~, when are you visiting again?" Akio pouted, both Kyoko and Ren puked.

Soon after, Kyoko was left alone under Akio's care, who was a surprisingly a nice person, Kyoko felt immediately attached; Ren's visit was like an icebreaker.

She chuckled, perhaps it was the wine that she just had, or the scent of the lavender candles, she felt reckless, so maybe she will have some harmless fun…

Perhaps she had too many cups of wine…

Or was it the whiskey? No, maybe the vodka… perhaps the brandy…no doubt it was the rum, yes, the rum.

"Akio-kun…" She leaned against his back, "Doesn't it smell nice in here?" _Well, Ren-kun was the one that said 'set Natsu out' so any casualties are his problem. _Natsu snickered.

Not far from here, Ren felt a chill on his back…

"Hm? Yes I know right? Lavender smells soooo sensual!" He chirped, completely defenseless and oblivious.

Natsu chuckled and leaned her head on his shoulder, leaning towards his neck, "I feel the same way." She blew on his ear while whispering in a low, sexy voice.

Tenshi stiffened, "Ah, so you are drunk! Do you want a couple of mints? It clears everything up perfectly!" He chuckled cheerfully, unaware or not wanting to be aware of his situation… the prey of a snake.

Of course, an immensely sexy and manipulative snake, that is.

_Drunk, huh?_ Natsu thought slyly, a plan forming up in her quick mind, _I'll give you drunk…_

She turned around and hugged him around the neck making sure to exhale deeply into the base of his neck, "Ah… so tired… carry me to the bedroom, will you?"

"Eh? You know since I'm a unisex model I'm not much heavier than you, right? How do you expect me to carry you? Gosh, use some common sense." He complained, but was smiling in a dreamy sort of way.

_So that won't work? Plan B!_

She bit on his ear… lightly, "tastes good…"

"Aha, is that so…"

_Is it working?_

_Clung!_ And he fell, back into Natsu's warm grasp, completely and utterly… passed out.

"Ah, so you were the drunk one…" She smiled in a very Natsu sort of way, "We will have lots of fun together, Ten-Shi-A-Ki-O-Kun"

The next day, Akio woke up with a horrible headache, cold sweat, and had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.


	15. Chapter 15 To Harmonize

**Disclaimer: 'Dream Star' by The Generous (translated lyrics), not my work, I do not own it.**

**A nice break…**

**Chapter 15- To Harmonize**

Kyoko examined the music that she was supposed to sing a duet with Shou carefully, not because she wanted revenge against him or to prove that she is better, however to satisfy her own needs. Widely known for her professionalism and being a perfectionist, she was not doing this to beat Shou… surely… not… at… all. (?)

_This isn't for him… not for him… definitely not for him…_

She hummed the tune under her breath, focusing on what she had learned about singing, focusing on the lyrics, the melody…

"Good morning Kyoko-chan!"

"Good morning, Shoko-san." Kyoko bowed to the manager whom she respected.

Shoko smiled at her, "practicing so early? That's fine, Shou will also practice with you, it is important that you guys can do the harmonies."

"Tch, as if I need it." A voice muttered arrogantly, Shoko threw the guy a look; he had a faint blush on his cheek and one hand behind his head.

_Damn it! Why can't I just look at her?!_ He screamed at himself internally, _why the hell does my chest hurt? I already went to the doctors and they said nothing was wrong, what the hell?!_

Kyoko glared at him, several of her demons poking out, but she kept them suppressed… just in case…

"I'm really happy that you are willing to perform this piece with Shou, and Shou is grateful as well, aren't you, Shou?" Shoko also glared at him, "anyways," she turned back to Kyoko, "If you had not agreed, the director would have wanted Vie Ghoul to take the song instead." She explained, Kyoko could tell that her thankfulness was genuine, and was therefore pleased, after all, better this idiot than the beagles!

"Well then, you guys can start practicing, just having Shou point some things out for you is good. Despite how he looks, he is still a musician with capabilities." Shoko said sourly, looking at Kyoko with an apologetic gaze.

Kyoko nodded, she knew that Shou was better than her, and she would hate to admit it, but he was good at this, this was his job.

"Thank you, Shoko-san, I will try my best."

Shoko smiled at her sincerely again and left the two be, wanting nothing more but to escape.

"Alright, let's hear it, that cat voice of yours." Shou muttered, sitting down as far away from her as the seats allowed it.

She glowered at him, but cleared her throat nonetheless.

"_If I realize I saw my past in the sky_

_It'll charm me with shiniest sparkle of that star_

'_Dreams are just-"_

"Wait, stop right there." Shou put up a hand, "your techniques barely pass, but listen to yourself, you sound worse than a robot" he scoffed.

Kyoko puffed out her cheeks, and exhaled. Deep down, she knew he was right to the last word, not that she would ever admit it.

"_If I realize I saw my past-_

"Don't you listen when people try to teach you? This is a waste of my time!" He interrupted, standing up suddenly.

"Well if you're so good, then show me, all you ever do is blabber on the side!" She shouted, anger bursting out of her, _rude, immature idiot Shotaro!_

"Fine I will!" He shouted back, his face red.

He took a deep breath and risked looking into her eyes for a brief fraction of a second, and exhaled before taking another deep breath.

"_If I realize I saw my past in the sky_

_It'll charm me with shiniest sparkle of that star_

'_Dreams are just dreams'_

_I wonder if that's why I gave up_

_Now_

_That star that shone brightly_

_Gave me courage."_

Silence engulfed them, both of whom staring at each other, one with defiant eyes but a stubbornly honest flushed face, and the other with shocked, amazed eyes.

"You have to sing with feelings, or else it's not a song." He broke off their eye contact and grumbled in a grudging tone, though his words were soft, "The meaning of a song is not just to be on tune, or else anyone could do it."

Kyoko snapped awake, she was furious at herself for being lost in his voice, for feeling a second of connection when he looked at her, for feeling a warm, fuzzy emotion transferred into her from his eyes and voice.

Yet, she can't help but agree that he was that much better, that he had won her in this round.

She took a deep breath and tried again,

"_If I realize I saw my past in the sky -"_ Without even him saying, she knew, her voice although hit all the notes, contained all the qualities, was nothing but dull compared to his chimes that conveyed feelings.

It was time to step down from her ego and ask.

"What… were you thinking of when you sang?" She asked in a small, grudging, but curious voice, her head low.

Shou's eyes opened wide, what was he going to say? _You?_ How can he just casually throw that out? It's not like he was actually thinking about her though… he definitely was not… why would _he_, the all mighty Fuwa Shou think about a plain girl like her?

"Something… that reminds me of the past…" _It should be okay, it's not as though I'm talking about her now…_ "Someone that brings me… comfort"

Kyoko nodded, she definitely heard comfort and nostalgia in there, but there was something else that she could not put a finger on…

She waved it off, if it was someone like that, Kyoko's would easily be Kanae!

_Moko-san is a star that guides me when I am a lost, comforts me when I am sad, and shares joy and happiness, she forgives me no matter what, I really love Moko-san _because_ she is important to me!_

Keeping that in mind, she opened her mouth to try again…

"Fuwa-san, Kyoko-san, the studio is ready."

Kyoko let out a nervous sound that Shou did not fail to catch, he wanted to _touch her_ and _hold her, _tell her that she will be fine all of a sudden.

_What am I doing? This is Kyoko we're talking about! Plain, boring, Kyoko! _Not to mention a thing that the oh-so-wonderful-Shou-sama would never do

The studio was large and spacious, there was a piano in a corner, and the room was well padded.

Kyoko glanced at Shou who nodded back, "Let's see what you've got."

Kyoko closed her eyes, letting her emotions flow over her…

Kanae who is always there for her, when she is broken down with nowhere to go, when she faces troubles that she alone cannot overcome, when she just need a friend to talk to her…

She would stay with Kyoko, no matter how busy she is, no matter how much she complains…

_If I realize I saw my past in the sky_

_It'll charm me with shiniest sparkle of that star_

'_Dreams are just dreams'_

_I wonder if that's why I gave up_

_Now_

_That star that shone brightly_

_Gave me courage."_

Kanae gave her courage, made her daring enough to try for what Kyoko had once felt for the impossible.

She spilled her heart out through her voice, controlling it naturally, without thinking.

And she stopped, and silence engulfed the two once more…

Shou's heart thumped loudly at her melodious voice and the emotion within was completely different to the robotic one that he heard merely minutes before, he wondered Kyoko could hear it as well as he could, he was almost sure that she could. It wasn't until Kyoko shouted at him that he realized that her voice had died away, and that he was completely captured by it.

"SHOTARO! ARE YOU DEAF?!"

"Ha? Oh, it's because of your horrid voice, ow my ears." Even he knew that it was a lie, even to his professional ego, Kyoko sounded good, and deep down inside, he cannot wait to finish the duet with her, it has been too long since he felt the excitement of singing with someone else.

"_I just relied on everybody_

_I say goodbye to those days…"_

He sang his part, which was short but contained a different vibe than Kyoko's, it contained strength, he pointed at her, inviting, no, challenging her to sing the next part.

With a fierce glare from her, he knew that she had accepted.

"_I'll show you that I can change the world_

_My troubles will change into opportunities."_

He knew that the words were meant to pierce him directly; he smirked and nodded his head to her melody.

"_My heartbeat was carved out from the future _

_but if I were to change my doubts into wings…"_

She followed swiftly with a point from his finger…

"_I'll become that star that no one can reach!"_

And the two attempted to harmonize…

"_Shining like a star!"_

They both immediately snapped their eyes together, surprised at how well their voices sounded together, amazed at the way they were able to co-operate so well without so much as one bit of practice, staggered that it was the other whom they had worked so well with.

_We did not sound good together; Shotaro is a horrible dirt bag_. Kyoko repeated silently in her head over and over again, hoping that it will stick into her mind.

_Kyoko is plain and boring, even her voice is unattractive_. The other thought aimlessly, though both knew that they were kidding themselves.

They sounded phenomenal! The hate and distaste they held for each other disappeared the moment they had started singing, as though they were born to sing this together.

Kyoko tilted her head, a brief picture of pair of young children singing together under a tree. She was practicing with him for his talent show performance…

She shook her head, clearing it of any nostalgic thoughts.

"N… not bad, but I would still sound better by myself… let's do the second verse…" Shou muttered, his voice sounded like a white lie, there was no doubt that Kyoko would catch that, being the one person who knew him best.

Kyoko glared at him weakly, barely creating the message across before he opened his mouth.

"_I blow away my bewilderment and run out_

_Quickly grasping my dreams_

_I'm tired of seeing the past I threw away because I decided_

_I'll change my way of living!_

_Even if I become useless, it's the key to my future"_

Kyoko was quickly swallowed by the melody and lyrics, at how well it shaped to the both of them, and did not even need Shou's finger to jab at her to follow.

"_I just relied on everybody_

_because I wasn't me back then"_

The words seemed to vibrate through her entire body rather than her voice, every single emotion she had preserved since the beginning blew out in the few short phrases.

The end of her voice overlapped with Shou's, and they harmonized with each other, connecting the pieces of the puzzle together easily, swaying in each other's tempo.

"_I'll show you I can change the world!_

_If I can look ahead (ahead)_

_When life gives me lemons I'll make lemonade! (I'm sure)_

_My heartbeat was carved out from my future but_

_If I were to change my doubt into wings (into wings)_

_I'll become a star that no one can reach (a star)"_

And breathing as one, they filled the room with bursting passion.

"_Shining like a star!"_

If there were a crowd, indubitably, a large round of applause, screams, and 'encores' would fill the room, but, all that was left was slight panting and the flame cooling, slowly becoming icy once more.

She was surprised, this was not the first time she attempted a duet for a drama opening, the first time had been horrid. Her partner, although sympathetic, left in a fit of rage insisting that they were not compatible in the least. That event had bothered her for so long…

Kyoko looked at him straight in the eyes, and sighed, time dulls pain and cools anger, since she arrived back, she realized she could not let her wrath out on him properly… maybe, maybe just this once, she will be a little more lenient than usual.

"God what is with your voice? We can never perform this live"

Or maybe not…

With her demons swirling around her, she scrunched up into a little ball of fury.

"Damn you Shotaro! Go dig a hole and bury yourself!"

"Nah, that's for the ugly people, if I buried myself, no doubt that girls from everywhere will cry to death." He snickered, his head turned away from her the whole time.

Kyoko scoffed and left the room, preparing for the final recording.

It was not until that he heard the door shut that he had turned around, his face as red as a tomato.

_Damn it! What the hell is wrong with me?! Why can't I even look at her? Is this supposed to be guilt or something? It's not like I did anything wrong…_

He decided, and followed her out the door.

The recording stunned all the technicians and band members in the room, very few things needed to be changed.

The drama is to be released in the next week, and the song, which is a duet, will be premiered on the same day as the long awaited first drama of Fuwa Shou, which will no doubt be a hit.

Kyoko and Shou bickered and glared at each other, gaining much laughter from the onlookers, since Kyoko's demons were kept at a low.

"Hahaha, you guys going out together?" One of the techs asked, laughing.

Shou's face flushed from the base of his neck to the roots of his dirty blonde, or perhaps more like _yellow_ hair.

"Definitely not, EVER!" They shouted in unison.

The tech shook his hands, "calm down! I just thought that you guys were like a couple, that's all." But nevertheless, he backed out from the murderous glares.

Before the two left for the day, the tech winked at Fuwa, "you're a lucky boy, having someone like her, be sure to hold on to her, that kind attracts a lot of attention." He patted him on the shoulder and gave him a sly smirk.

_Tch! As if! That plain, boring, and violent girl? _He wanted to retort, but the words were stuck in his throat, the words that had seemed so natural were caught with nowhere to go. In their stead, stood a plain smile, with eyes that only a love-struck boy would have.

"Whatever."

"Shoko, what are my feelings towards Kyoko?"

Shoko Aki turned around and raised an astonished eyebrow, "isn't that up to you to figure out?" She said in an are-you-kidding-me tone.

"That's the problem! I always feel _guilty_ towards her! Or at least, I _think_ it's guilt." He complained in an exaggerated voice.

"Ob-vi-ous-ly." She rolled her eyes, "after all you did that girl… I am glad that you still feel guilt, because otherwise you would just be a stone-hearted monster."

Shou let out a mirthless laugh, "Guilt? Towards her? She's my property, I can treat her however I like."

The corner of Shoko's lips twitched, how she wanted to teach him that Kyoko was nowhere near his property.

"But… my face always burns when I see her, and my chest feels tight… those are all signs of guilt, right? Maybe I should go see a doctor, because I doubtlessly should _not_ be feeling guilty towards what's mine." He muttered arrogantly.

Shoko let out a short laugh, and smirked at him "Now I know why Kyoko calls you baka-Shotaro." She shook her head, "honestly, you just never fail to surprise me."

Shou's eye twitched, "Hey! Waddaya mean?"

"Well, normally, I'd tell you to figure it out, but with all those guys on her tail, by the time you figure it out, she'll already by gone, so I'll just tell you…"

Shou stared at her, his eyes obviously curious, but he still tried to remain cool, which failed horribly.

"You think about her all the time." Shoko stated, and Shou did not deny it, "You want to see her all the time." She announced, once again, Shou neither agreed nor denied it, "but when you see her, you feel like you cannot interact with her normally." Shou leaned in unconsciously, "your chest tightens when you see her and you want to touch her, but at the same time, you are afraid to. When you are with other girls, you constantly compare them to her and once again, wants to see her… again and again and again…do you know what all these symptoms are?"

She smiled.

Shou swallowed.

"Love."

"Tsuruga-san, you really needn't have done this." Kyoko murmured, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, you need it don't you?"

"Yes, but… hey! Please be more gentle!"

"Oh, sorry, does it hurt?"

"It's bearable," She panted slightly.

"Don't worry, it will stop hurting soon enough."

"Wha… what if someone sees us?"

"Well then, we'll just tell them what's going on…"

"There done!" He sealed the Band-Aid and packed up the rest of the first aid box, rising from his kneel.

"Thank you so much Tsuruga-san, I can't believe I bothered you with something so trivial." She grabbed a bottled drink and opened it, taking a deep long sip, absurdly tired.

The drink tasted spicy, peppery, earthy, semi-sweet, smooth, and bizarre in her mouth, she had never tasted anything like it.

Curious, she took a look at the bottle, it was written in English with the word: _Tequila_.

_What's that?_ She wondered as she took swig after swig.

Ren sighed internally, Yashiro was right, Kyoko will never progress, not even as normal friends unless he makes a move first. It has been three years; it should not push her away, right? Nevertheless, it felt risky, and he was as much as he did not want to admit it, he was quite frankly, nervous.

"Mogami-san, would it be alright for you to have dinner with me today?" He asked politely, he needed to formulate a plan before dinner and up their relationship status.

_This is like a dating sim_, he thought sourly, _except the goal is to be _friends_._ He rolled his eyes, _I'm pathetic,_ he decided.

Kyoko's eyes widened, "I'm really sorry Tsuruga-san!" She bowed, "but I promised that I would cook for Akio-kun today." She felt a little warm, so she opened another bottle of the so-called 'Tequila' and gulped down a good portion of it.

Ren flinched slightly, "What kind of relationship are you and Tenshi-san in?" Completely focused on the topic at hand, he did not even notice the specific type of drink Kyoko was downing.

"We only met, but I think we connect with each other well," she said thoughtfully, "so, friends I think?" She rubbed her cheeks, they felt too warm, and her head was beginning to feel fuzzy. Deciding that it was from lack of sleep and food, she continued to sip on the drink.

Another low blow to his ego, why is it that only _he_ could not make any progress with Kyoko?

"What about me?" He asked in a tone of a throwaway question of no real importance.

"A very important person," she replied immediately, pulling an internal grin out from Ren, "a senpai." And the grin vanished.

"Do kouhais normally cook for senpais? Do senpais take care of kouhais' little brothers?" He asked, his words slightly cold. That's right, he was jealous and he knew it, after being with Kyoko for so long, jealousy was a normal emotion that he experienced on a regular basis. He caught himself before the green monster consumed him and covered himself up with a dazzling smile.

Kyoko's eyes widened once more, "I didn't realize that it was so much trouble for you, Tsuruga-san!" She bowed, "I will watch out for my actions now but of course if you do not want to… I know I don't deserve forgiveness. I mean… you are… and I… I'm sorry for taking advantage of your kindness… I…I…" The dizziness muddled with her mind, she was overreacting and unlike herself, she waved her arms around to stop him.

He chuckled, "No, it's my fault, I was just a little sad that you think we are so distant, I thought that we were more on a closer level. And what's that about taking advantage of my kindness? It wasn't really kindness, it's more like I kidnapped Takumi-kun and made him stay with me at my house…" Noticing her unusual behavior, he noticed the reddish tint on her face but took it as 'progress'.

"But… we can't be on a higher level…" She said, Ren felt his heart shrivel, "because I need to become the best actress in the Japanese show-biz industry before I can be anywhere near that level with you… so by then… will you…?"

Ren looked up in surprise at her awkwardly smiling face, his heart beating loudly in his ears, and missed the chance to reply when he was too caught up…

If he leaned in just a little closer he can hold her hand… and a little closer than that, he can embrace her in his arms… and a little closer than that…

"I'm sorry Tsuruga-san, that must have been too much to ask." She bowed, tipping slightly

"Huh? What?" _too close, _"what I meant is… do you think that Yashiro-san is merely an acquaintance for me? That he is nothing more but a random manager? He is not leading in the industry; he does not own a gigantic company. _Friends_ don't have to be on the same status background." He said quietly.

Perhaps it was her doubtful expression, he smiled, a little brightly, "if it is too much a request, that is fine too."

Kyoko's demons shriveled in fear at the light, _he's angry! Really really angry!_

"Um, Tsuruga-san, I _do_ want to be friends w.. with you…" she stammered fast, "b… but it's bad for your reputation if you are seen w…with someone like me…so I…"

Ren patted her head, "If you say it that way, then the president will not have any friends. And you are quite famous in Japan, you know." He felt like Cain, wanting to comfort his little sister, except that he had never thought of her like a little sister, but it would perhaps be better if he did.

Then he would not have to feel so perplexed…

And then it dawned on him…

If he just thought of her as Setsu, wouldn't that solve everything?

How much easier would that make his miserable life?

She did not replied, but looked down and bit her lip, he smiled, his expression forgiving, but feeling more depressed than he should "it's alright."

"No… it's my fault… ever since I came back, I've been causing trouble for you, I know I'm …a… a burden to you…a…and I know that…y…you probably have had enough of…m…me." Her voice quivered, she sounded as though she was on the verge of tears, with her head down and her hair swinging forward to cover her face. Something felt different inside of her, something was making her wanting to cry, to howl loudly and shamelessly in front of this man, the urge growing stronger every second. She frowned and sucked on more Tequila.

"No, I just said that it wasn't it, I don't think that you are a burden at all."

"B…but I'm always causing so much trouble for you… an…and this isn't the first time that you are in scandals because of me." She sounded pained, and it hurt Ren much more than it had her. He wanted to hug her and tell her he did not think that, he wanted to say that she mattered more to him than ridiculous rumors, he wanted to hold her and feel her reciprocate…and more…

"Mogami-san, all actors go through this," he murmured in a gentle voice, "the more famous they are, the more scandals they have, this is gaining me more popularity, right?" He hoped the slight humor would cheer her up, he wished he never started that stupid subject.

Her mind not able to take all the emotions that jumbled in her body, she remained silent, hoping that her silence will justify, she no longer knew what she was feeling. Just yesterday, her heart felt moved by that baka Shotaro, and then she was forced to take yet another role for another drama. Overworked, sleep deprived, and emotionally unstable, not to mention hungry, was a horrible combination for a Kyoko who is trying to desperately maintain her professional mask, trying to continue on with her disaster of a life, and now, _he_ just had to come and make things even more complicated.

Ren did not do anything wrong, his request was not over the top, and the topic they discussed ended in catastrophe mainly due to Kyoko's own emotions, which she had silently suppressed, was now going to override…

So before she knew it… she felt like someone else…

She giggled quietly, and then loudly, and then hysterically, tears dropping from her eyes.

"You are so bad! Lying to me all the time!"

Baffled by her behavior, all thoughts of their previous conversation disappeared and he stiffened.

And before he knew it, she threw her arms around her neck and kissed him full on the mouth.

Ren's eyes grew wide, he does not recognize what was happening, his heart was pounding right out of his chest and steam arose from both his cheeks and head. Yet, he could do nothing but stand there while she smothered all over his lips, leaning on him for support.

She then laid her head on his chest, chuckling happily, "Kuon, I'm sad!"

Hearing his name, as though someone was calling for him, he finally was able to comprehend a little better.

_Wait… did she just call me…?_

"Mogami-san, what did you call me?" Fear and curiosity mixed into his voice, his eyes were anxious as he held her away from his chest, his hands grasping his shoulders.

"You are so mean, Corn! Do you know how sad I was when I found out?" She chortled, shaking and laughing uncontrollably.

He held his breath as it dawned on him, taking the empty bottle in her hand, he swore under his breath.

"How did you find out?" he asked sheepishly, "how long did you know?"

"Sin forevar" She blurted, as her head rolled from one side to the other, "Hahahaha, stop _moving_ Corn, _fly_ for me!" Tears dripped from her eyes, her pain made his heart throb horribly, he hugged her tight.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered in her ear while she laughed/sobbed into his shoulder.

It was at that moment that he decided that he didn't want to own her, didn't want to kiss her, hug her, do the things that he had in his dreams with her, but to protect her.

Protect her from all the pain that she never showed to him, shield her from the scars that she herself didn't even know that she carried.

She was in much more agony than he thought through that cheery demeanor.

Kyoko pushed him away and spun in circles, throwing off her clothes all over the room.

First the jacket, then comes boots, the hoodie, sweater, blouse, just when she got to the camisole, Ren stopped her.

"I wanna tae a bas, come wie me, Nii-san." She threw herself on to his back, chocking him around the neck.

Ren frowned, _why is Setsu here?_

"You have to wear your bathing suit though." He said in a Cain-like manner, though it was Ren's request, not because he did not want to, but the trouble that will sure to ensue if Kyoko found out.

She pouted, "It's so tigh an itchy though…"

He sighed and grabbed her off his neck and dragged her to his room, from a drawer, he grabbed a white T-shirt, and started taking off his own clothes, eyeing Kyoko cautiously.

"I'll be in the living room, changing, okay?" He felt more like a baby-sitter than a lover, though their situation is more like the latter.

She shook her head and kicked off her black skinny jeans and ripped off her white camisole.

Ren blushed and turned around, "Mogami-san…" he said in a strained voice.

"Nooo, thas mother's name, call me like you di before!" She stomped her foot, yelling at the top of her voice.

"Alright alright! Kyoko-chan! Kyoko-chan! Shhh!"

Ren changed quietly, trying his best to cover his body with his heart thumping loudly.

"Nii-san…"

_Ah, so she's Setsu again_…

"Setsu, you're done?" He turned around.

He swallowed and turned back around before he lost his control, if he made any advances now, it would be irreversible.

She was wearing nothing, but was trying to put her head through the collar of the T-shirt, so it obviously will not go through.

"Your shirt is too small!"

"T…turn it the other way…"

"Now it's even smaller!"

"Turn i…it again"

"Oh! It's so magical, you really are the best, Corn."

Ren was confused, beyond confused, how the hell was he supposed to know who the hell she is if she's switching roles every two seconds?

She hugged him from behind, he could feel her through the T-shirt on his bare back, and it was driving him crazy.

"Ren-kun, I'm ready." He felt something wet and hot making contact with his back and slide across, he shivered.

Now she was _licking_ him?

Why is it only with her that he felt like a virgin high school boy?

And is this supposed to be Natsu?

He really didn't want to deal with Natsu…


	16. Chapter 16 Morning After

**Chapter 16 – Morning After**

"Kanae-chan, is it really okay that you are here driving me, it's getting quite late." Yashiro sat very, very uncomfortably in the car of Kotonami Kanae, who was emitting fumes similar to those of Kyoko's demons.

"That stupid Hiou! Damn Hiou! Stupid sixteen year old boys!" She kept on muttering under her breath, driving unusually fast.

Yashiro just cannot stay away from this woman, his unknown attractions pointed to her in every way, even though he always thought that he would fall for a cute, pretty girl who was good at cooking and chores and such.

Nevertheless, the way his heart races, the way how his blooded rushes to his cheeks and the butterflies in his stomach and jelly legs that she gave him was more than enough for him to realize what is happening. Or at least, he has watched enough anime and manga to know where this is going.

He didn't dare ask about Hiou, he knew that he was more than immature being jealous because of some high school boy.

"I have to go up to Ren's apartment to drop off a script." He said, "it's not far from here, is that okay?"

She sighed, taking a break from her constant muttering, "Fine, but traffic is pretty bad, might take a while." Yashiro nodded and put on his latex gloves; he sent a quick text to Ren, hoping that he would receive it.

Meanwhile…

Natsu flopped some water on herself, the white T-shirt became transparent; Kuon could only bang his head for handing her a white T-shirt.

She smiled at him seductively, "I missed you, Kuon-kun," her voice was slurred, and her eyes, as usual, were cold as ice.

He _really really_ did not want to deal with Natsu.

"Why ze dull face? Did ya not wanna see me?" She scooched over to his side of the tub, leaning her body against his, the wet cloth between them being their only barrier.

This was torture, pure torture to Kuon, and Natsu knows it, and worse, Kuon knows that Natsu knows it, and Natsu knows that Kuon knows that she knows it.

He _really really_ did not want to take advantage of her while she was drunk.

So of course, he remained silent, and the two sat there for who knows how long.

Each second was too painful and strangely pleasurable for Kuon, she was too close, _much_ too close.

"…Natsu."

No reply.

He looked down, to find her asleep against him, he pushed her away from him gently and rose from the bathtub, it was large and spacious, and from it, he carried her out, princess style, avoiding to look down at her, but the blush still creeped to his face

He walked to his bedroom, dripping a trail of water, and put her gently on his bed and wrapped a large towel around her, from head to toe.

He spent a long time wiping himself down, drying the floor and carpets, cleaning the bathroom, and cleaning up her clothes. By the time he was done, her long hair was nearly dry.

Blushing furiously, he unwrapped the towel from her with shaking fingers, he could hear his own heart and feel her body heat, he removed the half wet T-shirt with his eyes closed and slipped on another T-shirt for her, deciding that he would tell her that she did this herself.

His fingers touching and slipping against her bare skin was too much for him to handle. Her skin was soft and warm, like that of a baby's. He tried his best to resist the urge to caress her, each time he did, his own skin burned.

After he was done the long, tortuous act, he washed his face with ice cold water, he looked in the mirror, there stood an outrageously handsome male, except that his eyes were those of a love-struck fool. He smiled at himself pitifully, he felt sorry for himself, after all those years of keeping the Tsuruga Ren act on, a few hours with her and it shatters completely, he was Kuon Hizuri, left out naked chasing after the one that he knew he could not have.

Really pathetic.

It took him half an hour to calm down and carry her to the guest room, as he barely set her down, his doorbell rang.

_Shit! I completely forgot about it!_

He scrambled around, hiding all traces of Kyoko's existence in his house and opened the door after many irritated rings.

"Sorry about that, I was in the bathroom." _Damn it! Get into character!_ He thought to himself, but his stomach was doing too many somersaults.

"Yeah well, here you go Ren, I have to go too, have a good night." Yashiro threw the script into his arms and immediately turned around.

"Are you with Kotonami-san?" He asked slyly, enjoying the fact that he could now do the same things that Yashiro had done to him.

Yashiro reddened, "yes, but at least I'm not afraid to admit it!" he retorted, wiping the smirk off Kuon's face.

Kuon rolled his eyes and walked back to the apartment, where the temperature seemed to rise again.

He felt so _alive_, it's true that Tsuruga Ren was not completely different, after all, the character is created based on him, and he corrected many of his own ugliness. For example, his naivety, and not to mention that Ren was much calmer. Nevertheless, somethings just do not change: like his horrible cooking skills.

He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, waiting for drowsiness to claim him, but due to his little guest, he just cannot.

Sighing, he took out his cell phone and noticed a missed message from Yashiro. Not bothering to look at it, he dialed a number.

"Hello, Watanabe speaking." Kyoko's trusted but amateur manager picked up, sounding cheery.

"Hi, I'm Tsuruga Ren, sorry for calling you so late, Kyoko is with me now and I would like to know her schedule for tomorrow morning?" He felt good saying that, though it was childish.

"Hm? Ah, next time, try to call before ten, okay Ren-chin?" Kuon's mouth twitched, this guy is…, "ah! I found it, she has the morning off and meets the director for her new drama at three tomorrow."

"Alright, thank you, goodbye."

Kuon rolled his eyes at his phone, but was giddy. If he set his alarm at five, he can stay there with her until then, just looking at her sleeping face… that would be enough.

She always made him feel this way, this unsettling new feeling that he had long since forgotten, it was fresh, it was nostalgic, but even without it, he would still want to be with her.

Somewhere deep down, he was so guilty that he could explode, but his momentary happiness was covering it up, he can regret it later, at the moment, he could not care less.

He settled down on the bed gingerly, afraid to disturb her. She had a calm expression, angel-like, but he dare not touch her, as though he might dirty her.

An angel… like the one he met so many thirteen years ago…

The one who loved everybody even for his or her flaws.

Though, looking at her face also somewhat irritated him…

Her first love…

Her first kiss…

Her first victim…

Her first desire…

Her everything…

He had taken them all, every single last one of them; Kuon did not want to think what other firsts the singer might take. The thought bothered him, but drowsiness claimed him, and with her sweet face, he fell asleep surrounded in her sweet scent

It was early, the sky was still dark, and Kyoko was too tired to move, but her bladder sent out waves that could not be ignored. She groaned internally, her head was dizzy and it hurt, she did not want to get up yet.

She felt his hair being stroked, her eyelids felt to heavy to be lifted so she stayed there, it was comforting, and she felt too groggy to think properly anyways.

"This is fine, right? I can be selfish once in a while?" A quiet voice whispered, _it sounds like Tsuruga-san_. She was quite certain this was not a dream, however, she did not understand why Ren was in her bedroom, and was honestly too sleepy to even find out. Her brain was not working properly yet, and she knew it, knew that when it was finally awake, she would be surprised and be angry with herself now for sleeping. _This is fine, right? I can be selfish once in a while?_ She repeated the words, smiling at how it fit her situation.

"Since when did you become such a big part of my life?" Dizzy from the hangover and the hum of his voice, she started to drift off to sleep again.

"Since when is it that I can't stop thinking about you?" He chuckled, "what spell did you cast to make me love you so much?"

Kyoko's eyes grew wide, the hangover and her bladder forgotten, she daren't make a sound from either shock or just because her brain was not functioning.

"There I said it, it's easy to say it like this, I feel so much better…" There was a pause, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you Moga… Kyoko-chan… I love you."

BAM!

In an attempt to both stay away as far from him as possible and to stay motionless, she rolled off the bed and hit her head on the floor, but got up immediately, staring at him with large eyes.

He jumped at the noise and stared at her with an equally dumbfound expression.

"I… I didn't hear you wrong." She stated, even she could not pull off that she did not hear that loud and obvious confession, breathing loudly.

He opened his mouth, and closed it again, flushing from the base of his neck to the roots of his hair. He could hear his every heartbeat, and was almost sure that his companion could too.

_Damn! When I'm not in character too!_

Not being able to find words, he shrugged.

Kyoko frowned at the shrug, she did not like it one bit.

"Um… you weren't practicing a script about a character called Kyoko-chan." She bowed her head, the last shred of hope dying in her heart.

"No, I was not…"

She hesitated, "so… is that… a c… confession?" Her face flushed as red as Kuon's as her voice trailed away at the question.

"N…no! I…it wasn't Kyoko-chan! I… I mean Mogami-san!"

"Kyoko-chan is fine…" She swallowed, the hang-over was making her unnaturally courageous. It was a side of Tsuruga Ren that she has never seen before, and she likes it.

It took a few seconds for her to realize that she was shaking in anticipation, a familiar feeling, familiar words, a familiar person from a long time ago.

"Co…" She began, but shut her mouth, remembering that he did not know she knew his true identity, so instead she bowed, "I'm sorry."

_Sh…she just rejected to me with two words! I've never been rejected! Actually… this is the first time I confessed so… _

"I…I already to…told you i…it wasn't a confession! So there's no reason to reject anybody!" He waved his arms around, _God, why can't I get into character already!?_

It was awkward for him to suddenly act like himself instead of Tsuruga Ren in front of her, but, it really has been this way for a while. He has been acting more and more like himself with her.

"Tsuruga-san, I can't ever be with you, never." She stated, in a final sort of way.

Kuon stared at her, perhaps it was her confident tone, or her dark eyes, but whichever it was, it irritated him.

"Huh?" He slid off the bed.

She nodded, "I cannot fall in love." He walked towards her in a drifty sort of way.

He held her shoulders and shook her, more violent than he intended, causing her eyes to open wide in incredulity.

"Don't say that for sure! How can you say never so easily? How can you just say that nothing I do affects you so certainly? If that is so, then tell me, honestly, that you never had a _shred_ of romantic feelings, not one _bit_! Tell me!" He glared at her with indefatigable eyes, and strangely, she cannot help but look away.

"I…" she bit her lip, "we are Senpai and Kouhai… we can't…"

"Yeah? Well look at me as your childhood friend! I am Corn! Don't you know that already? Stop pretending! Stop using that 'senpai and kouhai' act of yours, do you know how _fake_ you look? You know _perfectly_ well that neither of us are like that anymore! How long are you going to continue to pretend to… to…", he threw his hands in the air, "to _ignore_ me? What sort of right do you have to just shove my feelings aside like I'm nothing… _nothing_ to you? If you don't want me, just say so from the beginning instead of hanging me on a string!" He yelled forcefully, pushing her away from him, and he stomped out of the room, throwing one last, disgusted look at her.

The moment he walked out, he regretted it, a feeling of dread washing over him.

Kuon smashed his fist at the wall, _God, why the hell did I do that? I don't have any reason to be angry with her; she's going to want to have nothing to do with me now. _He heard the door open quietly behind her and silent footsteps approaching him.

He felt a light tap on his shoulder, and turned around, deciding that he will apologize right this moment, maybe even do a dogeza like she usually does, it seemed comical even under the situation they are in now.

"Kyoko-chan, listen, I have been very childish, I am honestly sorry about what I said, please just forget it, I'm sorry that you had to feel disturbed… if you would like, I can drive you home right now-" _God… get into character!_

"NO!" She glared at him, "you know what? You are completely right! I DID have feelings for you, but so what? What do you want me to say? I don't understand you! Now you want to throw me away now? What am I to you? I'm NOT a toy! You tell me you love me and then you throw me around, lie to me, say that you know that I knew you lied to me… and you make me think that you understand… understand my hate to Shotaro… when you are doing the same thing to me!" She touched her temple, massaging it lightly. There must be something seriously wrong with her life, she felt so irritable at the moment, and the headache was making her ill tempered.

It was not really Kuon's fault that she exploded on him, he just said the wrong things at the wrong time and ended up biting off more than he could chew.

Kuon's mouth popped open in a perfect, comical O. Of all the Kyokos he knew, he did not expect any of them to detonate like this. More likely, she would be sad, feel guilty, and not want to see him anymore, or believe everything is her fault and apologize endlessly…

"And why am I here at your apartment in the middle of the night? Have you not even considered how I would feel if I woke up in some man's room with a guy sleeping beside me when I don't remember anything? It's okay to treat me like an idiot but you should at least have a limit! Oh, and now you're trying to apologize to me? What did you think I would do? Oh he said some nice things, I feel bad now, so I'll just pretend nothing happened and apologize to him myself?" Kuon felt a stab at his conscience, that was exactly what part of him had been hoping for, "Quit dreaming! My head hurts like hell right now, so I'm going back to sleep and I'll leave later! Good night!" She turned and slammed the door in his face.

After shouting and screaming her heart out, everything felt so much lighter, and she fell asleep without a care in the world, though everything is mostly due to the effects of alcohol… that wore off the moment she opened her eyes again.

Her first reaction was of course…_ah, it was a dream… I would never do anything like that to Tsuruga-san…_

She opened the door and drifted away, noticing that she had on a T-shirt too big for her, she flushed, and realized to whom the T-shirt belonged to.

She drifted into the kitchen and started working on breakfast.

"Tsuruga-san! Breakfast is on the table!" She called to the hallway, nostalgia consuming her, the year apart seemed to evaporate, she was calling him to breakfast, like she always did before she left.

She was in a strangely good mood, as though something terrible was taken off her chest, the kind of feeling she would have when she beat Shotaro in a shouting match and gain a mini victory sort of feeling.

"Tsuruga-san?" She asked again, curious, she walked down the hall and knocked on his door, no reply, worried, she opened it and looked around, there was no one there.

She heard a whispering voice coming from the bathroom, and walked in cautiously.

"Yes, Yukihito, tell him that I'm very interested."

The great, wonderful, above-all actor Tsuruga Ren, was crunched in a ball in a corner of his bathroom whispering in a cell phone.

"Tsu…Tsuruga-san?"

At the sound, Ren threw his cell phone up and it fell on the floor, where the screen shattered. He turned around slowly, dark circles around his eyes, a reproachful look on his face before turning around completely and clawed at the wall.

"Ano, Tsuruga-san? I'm sorry I startled you?" Concerned, Kyoko took a step forward, and Ren recoiled.

Kyoko sweat dropped, "I made breakfast… it's on the table…are… are you alright? Are you angry?"

Ren turned around and looked at her in disbelief, "H..Huh? W…why would I be a…angry? Haha… you are being ridiculous Kyoko-chan… I mean Mogami-san…haha" he scratched his head and shifted away and out of the bathroom, avoiding her as much as possible.

Perplexed, Kyoko followed him, "Um, Tsuruga-san… did I do something wrong? My head is all-blank so I don't remember anything… I'm really sorry…" She half bowed into his back, but continued to walk, making her look like a turtle.

"Y…you don't remember anything?" His tone failed with relief and slight disappointment worried her, it didn't feel like him, he felt like someone else.

"But… I did have a very weird dream." She smiled, "ah, that doesn't matter, it _never_ could have happened anyways…haha…" Ren, or rather, Kuon, froze, _yes, it totally did happen,_ he thought helplessly.

"Ah, n…no, it's all fine…" _Get into character! _Kuon mentally kicked himself, he has never been out of character for so long, and he did not know why. The last thing he wanted to do was work, therefore, he cancelled all his jobs for the next two days, and asked Yashiro to sign him up for the male lead of Kyoko's newest drama… which begins this afternoon. Of course, if Kyoko asks… he would obviously say it was a _coincidence _that the male lead of her new job just _happened_ to drop out and he just _happened_ to he called on to the job.

He really was hopelessly obsessed with her.

At a time like this, who should he asked for help?

Yashiro? Nah, he doesn't even know half the story yet…

The President? The bastard will probably end up teasing him to no end…

Kuu? That would seem like he lost, the last thing he wanted to do…

_Guess there's no helping it, is there? At least she doesn't remember anything from last night… _

"Kyo… I mean Mogami-san…" He turned around to find her head low and face rather red.

"Um, Tsuruga-san… I've been thinking… it really is fine for you to call me by my first name…Ren…chan…"

Kuon felt both absurdly happy and taken aback at the same time, "Ren-chan?" A corner of his mouth tugging upwards, he felt like they were back in kindergarten, wouldn't the correct term be _Ren-kun_?

Kyoko looked up, still red in the face, "Eh? You don't like it? But… Yuuto-kun said that you would like it… or perhaps you prefer… Ren-chin?"

He covered his mouth, it was too cute, the cute waves were just travelling towards him in heaves, too much to resist…

"Either way is fine… Kyoko-chan." To Kuon, it felt so natural, but when he is in character, it blows everything off balance, maybe that is the reason why he had not made any progress.

But, he cannot make any progress, cannot drag Kyoko into his messed up life, he could already imagine her disgusted face twisted in agony if she had truly known him…

Now, though, none of that mattered, he needed to know how to survive this moment!

"Listen, there's something important… so… I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, but my real name is Hizuri Kuon, Kuu's son." This was a lie, he did not want to tell her at all, "and Tsuruga Ren is a character I created for the show-biz world." He paused, seeing her unsurprised expression, and continued, "recently I have been having trouble getting into character, so, maybe you could help me?" She did not reply, but continued to look at him in the same neutral expression, "I didn't try to lie to you or anything…" He added quickly, guilt written all over his face.

"Really?" She asked quietly, Kuon gazed at her cautiously, waiting for the volcano to erupt again, "you really didn't want to lie to me? You didn't play with me for fun? That's a relief!" She grabbed his hands and beamed at him in her sparkliest manner, "But…" She dropped his hands, and him, who steamed up immediately the moment their skin made contact looked relieved, "there's not much I can help you with, Corn." She covered her mouth, "I mean, Kuon-chan. And… I have a lecture to attend to this morning…" Kuon expected her to bow and apologize, but instead, she smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "don't worry! Call me whenever you need help!"

Kuon flushed, _maybe… I'll just stay like this a little longer…_

"Then, I'll pick you up later for lunch?"

"Yes please. Thank you for taking care of me… and…" She burned in a shade of deep pink, which Kuon found very cute and flushed again, "how did I end up wearing your T-shirt?"

"A…ah… the T-shirt! Ahaha, funny story… you drank alcohol and your clothes got wet… so I gave you a T-shirt and you wore it… that's all… really!" Kuon mentally kicked himself for the hundredth time today, he really needed to get his cool back, his cool 'Ren-chin' back.

"That so… well, I will be going now." She grinned, "thank you for having me."

Kuon swallowed, to Ren, she would probably bow and mutter something extremely polite, but to him, she could act so much friendlier, for some reason, he felt happy. _What are you doing? Comparing yourself to a fictional character?_

"I'll drive you, you didn't drive here because you were drunk." He grabbed a coat and attempted to walk out the door.

"Um, Kuon-ch… I mean Kuon-kun, you haven't changed yet…" Kyoko held on to the T-shirt, which was long enough to cover a third of her thighs, "and neither have I, I was wondering… if I could have my clothes back."

"Ah! Hold on a sec," fumbling, Kuon made back to his room and changed quickly, then grabbed Kyoko's clothes which stank of alcohol, he then grabbed some clothes from his own closet, and stuffed it in her arms, "change into these." He muttered, avoiding eye contact.

Kyoko looked up, "you have women's clothing?"

"No! It's not like that! They remind me of my mother, so I buy them… constantly." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

Kyoko smiled at his cute side, "But, if they are for Julie, is it really okay for me to have them?"

"Yes, I have a…lot." This was true, much of his own closet were filled with Julie's clothing which he has collected over the years. Every time he goes shopping, he would be reminded of the woman and end up buying clothes that would suit her. This never happened in the beginning, but ever since he made that video though, Julie and Kuu never left his mind.

Kyoko nodded and excused herself into the washroom, she came back moments later in a simple, strapless midnight blue dress that hang from the middle of her thighs. A belt tied in stood against her stomach, showing the curves that she had gained since their first meeting three years ago.

Even Shotaro could not call her flat as a washboard anymore.

"Kyoko-chan… how tall are you?"

"Around 170cm I suppose." Kuon nodded, so that was why her legs seemed to go on forever.

"Shall we go?" he scratched his face with his right hand, and was surprised to find it sweaty.

The car ride was uncomfortable for Kuon, who could barely focus on the road, he sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Kyoko-chan, I will pick you up later this afternoon, we can go to work together."

"There's really no need to worry." She smiled.

Kuon took a slow breath in and another out, "I need help, Kyoko-chan." He murmured quietly, asking quiet wasn't his style.

"Huh? Definitely! I will do my best!" She pumped her fists, pulling a grin from Kuon.

The car pulled over and Kyoko left with a faint smile and a quick word of thanks, walking in to the university, gaining many love struck stares.

Kuon rubbed his temple, _what the hell am I supposed to do?_ He knocked his head on the back of his seat, _I'm so stupid… I shouldn't have stayed with her while she was in that state. _He smiled sadly, _how ironic, I ended up getting beat up the worst anyways._

He sighed, _how nostalgic_, to be able to talk to her almost normally, to be able to interact with her without the terrible barrier of the senpai-kouhai forbidden relationship, it really felt good.

_If I confess to her… will she…_

_No, my education is less than her, I haven't even finished high school! And there she is, in a university and _still_ getting the top grades despite being absent for a year._ He shook his head, _how talented can one person be?_

Kuon felt stabs at his heart, all this time, he has been worrying about her reactions if he confessed to her, if he actually asked her out, what would she do?

Now he know… she will reject with her two simple words and not a shred of emotion.

Usually, after being rejected, most people would give up, or try harder, so why is it that he want her even more now?

Her fiery attitude…

He likes it.


	17. Chapter 17 Bad Timing

**Thank you for reading up until now, I really appreciate it.**

Chapter 17 -

_Why can you not see the light emitting around you?_

_Why do you not realize how beautiful you are?_

_When will you comprehend that the place you stand in my heart is far greater than the heartless insults thrown at you?_

The young man threw his bag off and stretched, luggage thrown at a pool around his feet in the middle of the road. He took out his cell phone and waved it around a bit, evidently annoyed. Agitatedly, he threw it across the road where it landed against the hard cement and split into pieces.

His little act gained many disturbed stares from on lookers, disconcerted, he gathered up his things and sat on a bench by the road.

The man who rested beside him looked at him, and smiled behind his sunglasses.

He had brown hair and a kind face, the young man could swear he has seen him somewhere before, but could not recall, "have I seen you anywhere?" He asked the brown-haired man, who looked around, his eyes opening wider behind his sunglasses.

"Hm… do you watch talk shows?" He asked and the young man nodded, "then yes, you probably have." He grinned again, a little bit slyly.

The young man pounded his palm with his face gently, "Ah! I remember now, you are Ishibashi, Ishibashi Hikaru!" He yelled, "I didn't think I would see you here, how's it going?" The young man punched him lightly in the shoulder, Hikaru looked taken aback.

"Um, have I seen you before?" He asked, peering into the man's face, he was wearing a cap which he had pressed low and dark sunglasses, making it impossible to decipher his eyes, bits of spiky black hair stuck out from the hat, seeing Hikaru's confusion, the man beamed.

"Nope, never. You have seen someone who is very important to me though." He said matter-of-factly, confounding the very confused Hikaru, who tilted his head.

"Um, alright…" Hikaru muttered. uncertainly, _weird people are everywhere…_ "why are you wearing a hat even though it's not even sunny?" he asked curiously, peering at him.

"Ah, this," the young man flipped it off and his hair came free of their restraint, "you're wearing sunglasses aren't you?" he replied, a hint of smile from his tone, he then tilted his sunglasses down slightly, some of his eyes exposed.

Hikaru's eyes opened wide at the honey colored irises, "you…you're…" he stuttered.

The young man brought his finger to his lips, "shh, it's a surprise."

Kyoko stretched, she was still in the university, not daring to go out to the screaming and stamping fans that watched over the place twenty-four seven. The lessons ended earlier than usual; she wondered if she should call Kuon, she was worried that he still was not able to get into character.

She pressed the numbers and hang up again, and dialed again, and pressed the off button before the call was dialed over. Her hand shook slightly and the corner of her lips twitched.

_What am I doing?_

She sighed and dark aura radiated from her, _frustrating! _She thought to herself, there's just something about Kuon that every time she thinks about him a very irritating feeling over takes her…

Kyoko shook her head, _what am I doing? Kuon hasn't done anything wrong! _She thought to herself, _he didn't do anything._ The strange feeling pulled at her heart, _it really feels like he did though…_ she thought irritably.

Through the gate, she can hear swarms of fan girls calling through the gate and the shouts of guards for them to keep down. Kyoko sighed and leaned on the marble gate, glad that she was not on the other side.

"Hey! Let me through!" A man's voice called, Kyoko smiled, it was rare for a guy to be the one that is annoying the guards, but it happens.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, sir." The deep voice replied calmly.

"Shut it! My cute imouto-chan is in there!" He whined, causing Kyoko to frown, has she heard that voice somewhere?

The guard laughed, "So it's one that wants to play a sibling game, huh? Like I haven't seen that before! Unless you have a pass given to the family by the university, beat it buddy!" the guard called harshly.

Kyoko pushed open the gate and without thinking called, "Mogami-san! I'm sorry about that, I was informed that you would be arriving next week, so I…"

She was pulled into a bear hug before finishing her sentence, "Cold as always, Kyo-chan!" he murmured nuzzling himself into her neck.

"Kyah! It's Kyoko-sama! Kyoko-sama!"

"Oh my God! What are they doing? I totally thought the report with Tsuruga-sama was true? Kyoko-sama! Kyah!"

"What is this? Quick! Take pictures! Pictures!" Cell phones and cameras snapped and videos were taken as girls stampeded the guards to snatch evidence of the scene before them.

"At least call me Onii-chan, Kyo-chan! I'll be really sad!" he murmured, pulling out the really.

Kyoko's face burned very slightly, "N-no, I can't do that…y-you're the prince of… of…"

"I'm your brother." He said firmly, looking into her eyes deeply as he caressed her cheek with the hand that is not wrapped around her waist.

She lowered her face, "but…"

He sighed, "It's all that baka Tou-san's fault!" he shook his head, "let's go…" he took her hand and led her away from the crowd, following him obediently with a grudging expression, was of course, Kyoko…

Half an hour later…

Kuon arrived at the school and waited for about an hour before calling Kyoko before realizing he had been stood up.

"I am so so sorry! So sorry! So so very sorry! Please kill me if it helps to relieve your anger!" is what he had expected her to say… but…

"Kuon! I am with… my… onii-chan…" she whispered, "sorry, but I'll meet you at your apartment when the time comes for work, okay?"

And… he could do nothing but agree submissively, like a docile lamb. He should be angry, he had every right to be and wondered why he did not. He was stood up, by Kyoko of all people, and was forgotten in the back of her mind where he waited for an hour until he, not her, phoned her to ask where the hell she was.

_Well, since she stood me up… it should be okay to check this 'brother' of hers… _

_Wait…_

_SINCE WHEN DID SHE HAVE A BROTHER?!_

Kuon shifted gears and drove off, leaving the fan girls who were sharing photos in a heap of dust.

He dialed her number quickly but hang up before it went through.

_I just called her… it would seem bad if I called her again…_

_And what should I say?_

'_Hey, where are you?' nah, that's just stalker like…_

While his mind was trying to process all that, he had unknowingly placed a call on his phone, and before he knew it, she picked up.

"Tsuruga-san?" she asked, "is anything wrong?" she sounded worried, it was not like him to call her twice in a row.

Kuon gaped at the phone, "um, er, Kyoko-chan…" he scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, could it be you still could not get into character?" she asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

"Huh? Oh, yes, that's right." He quickly accepted her excuse, nodding vigorously.

"..." Silence embraced his ears, she did not reply, all he could hear was the clicking of heels and chattering of people around her. As seconds stretched to minutes, he became concerned and called to her.

"…Kyoko-chan?"

"…What? Nii-san."

Kuon jolted, she was in character in a split second notice, that means the silence before… was she in character the whole time?

Kuon swallowed, his pride was hurting, the last thing he wanted… was being beaten in acting, be it his father or anyone else… even Kyoko.

"Where are you?" He slid into character slowly, with each syllable, sinking deeper into Cain's mask. By the time the short sentence was asked, his façade was finished.

"I just arrived… at my apartment." She mused, "Miss me already?"

"DAMN THAT SHAPE-SHIFTING-DEMON-SOUL-SUCKER!" Shou threw his laptop across the room, where it shattered against a mirror.

Images of her being embraced by that mysterious guy were still imprinted in his head.

Click

The door opened and in came Shoko Aki's very surprised face, "Shou!" Her expression was dark and her lower lip quivered, "could it be? You… did you… see it?" Her question was answered the moment her eyes met his Niou face.

_Soul sucking? I still don't understanding that part… but shape shifting…_

"And I was just about to turn off the router too…" she sighed.

"Why?" He laughed hysterically, "Did you think I would be angry from seeing that?"

_Somehow, this reminds me of something. _Shoko thought to herself.

"But you are angry…"

"COME OFF IT! ANGRY OF THAT PITIOUS STUPID GIRL WHO FLOCKS AROUND MEN LIKE BEES ON FLOWERS?! QUIT DREAMING!"

"Never mind about that, Shou," Shoko said testily, "whatever your thoughts of her maybe, and I suggest you quit denying it, I'm sure you know very well of your true feelings for her… despite what you may say…" she said with a hint of a smile. Shou had taken it very badly when Shoko had announced that he was in love with the very girl whom he threw away into the dumps.

"Rather than that, more importantly… your music video is being shot next week, on the same day as your duet is released. Kyoko will be giving an interview that same day. So obviously many questions about the two of you will arise." Shoko said solemnly, "Listen, you _must not mess this up._ For your sake, whatever sakes you may have, and mine. _If_ Kyoko were to feel that you are a nuisance through and through. All she has to do is say something about you… even if it be something utterly false… your career… I cannot guarantee it."

"My fans won't be swayed by something like that." He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Shoko gave him a long and hard stare, "Need I remind you of how many actresses and singers and talents and models you went through _this_ year alone? Trust me, they have created tearing seams in your image and popularity! And if Kyoko says something… even if it may simply _suggest_ that you tried something with her… and you do know her influence, even you cannot ignore that… it will not go so well."

"I-"

"Shou, _please_. Take this seriously. Some of the girls that hate you out there are claiming you violated them!"

"I didn't violate anybody!" He cried angrily, "They can all go to hell! I didn't freakin' do anything!" He threw his hands up in the air, sure he liked to play around, but what on earth did he do to deserve random girls clutching on to him insisting that he had done something to them?

"I know, I _know_ you didn't! However, I warned you since the beginning that you have to keep your acts down to a minimal to succeed in this industry! All those girls you were with… they can end up doing terrible things to you Shou!"

"I didn't ask them to! They were the ones that were all over _me!_ I didn't even _try_ to seduce half of them! I don't even know half of them!" He protested, which was for once, actually true.

Girls pounced on him… everywhere, and all over, he tried to refuse them, honestly, he did…

Anyways, one of the most important lessons Fuwa Shou had learned in life (not that he will _ever _and repeat, forever and beyond, admit it in his entire existence) that girls were quite frankly, scary.

"However, that's not the entire point," Shoko sighed, "if you do well with Kyoko and she says something nice, hell, even neutral, all those rumors would fly out the window." She smirked, _and maybe other good things might happen too… geez, quit being a baby and apologize to the girl already, this is damn tiring._ She wanted to say, but instead patted the boy's head, yes, boy.

"Gambatte!"

(*)

Cain Heel turned the doorknob, which was open and slid into the room.

He looked around quickly, a dull look on his face before proceeding to the kitchen, and with another glance, he barged into the bathroom.

"PERVERT!" A high shriek broke throughout the house, Cain closed the door.

"Mogami-san, what's the matter?" A pattering of footsteps and a half dressed Kyoko burst out from the bedroom, a concerned expression on her face.

"Ku-Tsuruga-san?" Only in her lingerie, she blushed slightly and grabbed a coat from the nearby sofa and tossed it on.

He smiled brightly.

Tsuruga Ren was back… with a vengeance.


	18. Chapter 18 New Show

**Chapter 18: **

Kyoko sat stiffly between Beagle and Ren.

Yes, she sat between _Beagle_ and _Ren._

SHE FRIGGIN' SAT BETWEEN BEAGLE AND REN!

The production was a simple one, and the lead? Mogami Kyoko, to play as a fifteen-year-old high school girl!

"Good evening, my name is Kyoko, I will be playing as Fujioka Haruhi, please take care of me!" She chirped sweetly to the room full of males, this was not a production that she was particularly happy about, she only took the job since the manga and anime of the production was so popular that it became a given that the drama would be equally welcomed.

One of the blonde boys winked at him, Kyoko guessed he was the main male lead, _he looks foreign,_ she thought to herself.

"Tsuruga Ren, I will have the opportunity to play Morinozuka Takashi, or better known as Mori." He nodded, smiling brightly at the group, Kyoko twitched, _he's angry!_ She didn't blame him… considering who was on the car that they arrived with…

Yashiro sat beside Ren, while Kyoko's brother, Kyoko herself, and Kyoko's manager, who got along very well with Kyoko's brother filled the back seats.

Needless to say, Ren shined very brightly the whole trip; many of Kyoko's demons were miserably charred.

This time, a pair of twins rose, they both had black hair, though it would be soon dyed a reddish colour before the shooting.

"We will be playing Hikaru and Kaoru!" Their reply was energetic and short, Kyoko knew already that the two would most likely be her best company in the entire cast.

"I am Honda, Honda Tamaki, coincidentally, I have the same first name as the character I will be portraying." It was the blonde man, he had a drawling voice, though it was not unpleasant, Kyoko had a feeling she would do well to stay as far away from him as possible. He winked at Kyoko again, flashing a white smile that caused Ren to shine even brighter, if that was even possible.

Kyoko regretted not bringing her sunglasses.

Beside him, a young boy bobbed up and down, grinning at the rest of the cast, "I'm Honda too! Honda Mizuki! I am so happy to be under the care of such a pretty onee-chan!" The boy had similar hair to his brothers, though his was already streaked slightly brown for the purpose of the drama, Kyoko beamed back at him. Thankfully, Ren did not seem to think little kids were a threat.

Last but no least, the Beagle sat up, instead of standing like the rest, he pulled out his cellphone and typed quickly before showing it to the rest.

"Reino, Kyoya." It read simply, and he left, his absence disbanding the rest of the cast. Though when he reached the door, he turned back.

"Oi!" Kyoko turned to look at the Beagle, who finally spoke up for the first time, and caught the thing that he threw at her easily.

She looked at the box, which was completely white with a small silver bow on top, suspicious, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged, "a late white day present."

Kyoko held the box by the ribbon with her index and thumb, _maybe it's a bomb_, she thought darkly.

"Kyoko-chan?"

At the voice, she stuffed the box into her purse and greeted the person with a small bow, "Honda-san."

Honda Tamaki was not someone to be taken lightly of, that Kyoko knew, although he was not absurdly popular, he was popular enough… considering how he had never made a single public appearance.

The man scratched his blonde hair and fixed his blue eyes on Kyoko's amber ones, "Let's go grab a drink together." He smiled, "it's just that I want to know my co-workers a little better before work starts."

Judging by his smile, Kyoko did not think he had an ulterior movement, though the fact that he said 'grab a drink' while his little brother stood waiting for him not so far away bothered Kyoko, today, she had to pick up Takumi-kun, her own little brother from the President today, not to mention she had to describe to Tenshi Akio why both the baby and a grown man must share the one bedroom apartment with them.

She sighed, slightly disappointed, "I'm really sorry, Honda-san…" she began, but was waved off by the man.

"Don't worry about it, I have to take Mizuki out for a cup of coffee tomorrow anyways, let's go together then!" Kyoko's eyes widened, so the man was not going to take his little brother out for a drink, relief flooded Kyoko, the man was probably better than she thought.

"But I… yes, I'll see you then, Honda-san!"

Quickly, she rushed out, a taxi with her brother sitting in it honked at her, swiftly, she got on and greeted her brother.

The man smiled at her with a gigantic smile on his face. He had taken off his usual sunglasses to reveal amber eyes not much different from her own, and also messy unkempt back hair. He had a good-natured face and is almost never seen without a grin of some kind on his face.

"Good evening Mogami-san, I'm sorry you had to pick me up!" She bowed nervously, chewing her lips.

The man pulled her into a bear hug and laughed loudly, the taxi driver grimaced.

"What kind of sister calls their brother 'Mogami-san'?" He murmured into her hair.

Comfortably, she giggled, "Sorry, Nii-san, well then, shall we go surprise Akio-kun then?"

He sighed, "sorry Kyo-chan, I'm thinking of taking a walk so I'll go back to the apartment later."

Kyoko frowned, it was nearly midnight, but she nodded, it was not the younger sister's place to criticize the older brother's hobbies, "Be careful."

(*)

He sighed and rang the bell, a cool male voice answered, "Who is it?"

His expression hardened instantly, "Mogami, Mogami Kyou. I'm Kyoko's Nii-san." He grumbled in a slightly annoyed voice. Almost immediately, the door was dragged open slowly.

Kyou slowly removed his hat and stared at Ren with dark amber eyes, his unkempt black hair bouncing as he removed himself from his roots and into the living room.

"How can I help you?" Ren continued to dry his hair with the towel hanging around his neck, clad in a hasty black T-shirt and pajama pants.

(*)

Kyoko allowed herself to fall onto the sofa with a small thump. She rubbed her temples, work was tiring, but satisfying. The next part of Shou's music video would be the week after. The filming for 'Ouran Koukou Host Club' starts tomorrow. A small modeling job tomorrow and a commercial, not to mention the song release of the collaboration between herself and Shou will also be releasing tomorrow. Thank goodness that Takumi-kun was already asleep. Kyoko smiled at the little boy's peaceful face under the dim lamp light.

She pulled her university textbooks out from under the sofa and started to highlight and press sticky notes here and there while scribbling madly in her notebook. Silently, she smiled to herself.

A few years ago, when she had to prepare for the entrance exam to the high school, Ren had made her see the importance of not overexerting herself. She giggled, they also had the horrible omu-rice together. Her beloved senpai really was inept at cooking. There was the time after stupid Shou kissed her too… she felt her face flush horribly as she dropped her pens.

Studying was impossible.

So instead, she buried her face into her hands and rubbed it hard.

She heard the door click and a tired Tenshi Akio sliding into the room, a cell phone in hand.

"Yes yes, I understand, I'll tell her." He muttered in an annoyed voice as he shoved the phone back into his jeans and sighed deeply.

"Welcome back." She smiled from the sofa picking back up the pen.

He shuffled towards her in the still irritated expression, "The director for our modeling collaboration called us up."

Kyoko looked at him, waiting.

"He said he wanted to move the shoot earlier, to next week."

Kyoko dropped her pen again.

"What? But… but my schedule is full!" She stuttered, dumbfounded.

"Mine is too, but this is such an important job… I can't afford to let it go…" He pushed a hand into his face, "well, let's talk about this tomorrow, I'm going to bed. Night."

"Wait! Akio-kun!" She chased after him while the door slammed in her face, "that's… the only… bed… and my brothers are… here…" she murmured as the door pulled open immediately.

"…WHAT?"

(*)

**ugh… that's it for now… it's been a while. Exams are starting! Good luck everyone!**


End file.
